Casino knows that Las Vegas was built by the Mafia.

But few realize those formative years were also

steered by a vastly different group with vastly

different interests.

Mormonism has deep roots in the city of Las Vegas.

Mormons built the first settlements on the site

and were largely responsible for creating its casino culture.

Today, we're going to take a look at the untold story of how

the Mormon Mafia built Las Vegas into what it is today.

But before we get started, be sure to subscribe to the Weird

History Channel, and let us know in the comments below what

other cities of interest you would like to hear about.

OK, now get your [BLEEP] feet off the table for this video.

What do you think this is?

A [BLEEP] saw dust joint?

[PIPE ORGAN MUSIC]

Founded on April 6, 1830 in the state of New York, what

would eventually become known as the Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter day Saints was originally

called the Church of Christ.

The teachings of the church were based on the Book of Mormon,

which purported to be a chronicle of Jesus Christ's

ministry in the Western hemisphere.

The contents of the book were alleged

to be translated from a series of golden plates

that Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, had discovered.

Over the next decade the church moved further west

to avoid religious persecution.

And in 1844, Joseph Smith was killed by a mob in Chicago.

Leadership of the church was thereafter

assumed by one of his underlings, Brigham Young.

Following in Smith's footsteps, Young

continued to move the church west until, in 1847, they

finally settled in what would eventually

become the state of Utah.

By the 20th century, the Church of Latter day Saints

was growing into a massive international organization

with vast resources and real political power.

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The first permanent settlement in Las Vegas

was erected by representatives of the Mormon church.

It was in 1855 that they were sent by a church leader Brigham

Young to establish an outpost halfway

between the Mormon missions in San Bernardino

and southern California.

The purpose of the outpost was mainly to store supplies.

But while they were headed in that direction,

these same representatives were asked

to convert any Paiute Native Americans they happened

to come across in the region.

A fort was constructed.

But despite the group's best efforts,

the Mormons' first attempt to settle the region failed hard.

Between crops that wouldn't grow and disagreements

over group leadership, the settlement soon collapsed.

And the Mormons abandoned the effort by 1857.

They couldn't know it then, but the Mormons had actually

planted the seeds for what would eventually

grow into one of the 25 largest cities in the United States.

The remains of that original fort still exist in the city

and can be seen today at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard

and Washington Avenue.

In 1905, the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad

bought up much of the property around the tiny town

of Las Vegas.

110 acres of that land-- adjacent to the Union

railroad-- was then auctioned off.

It's that parcel which today sits in the downtown area that

formed the basis for what was eventually

incorporated into the city of Las Vegas in 1911.

Thanks to the railway, the rural settlement began to flourish.

And Mormons returned to the region.

They built homes in nearby Bunkerville, St. Thomas,

Mesquite, and Overton and eventually

gravitated to Las Vegas as well.

By 1930, Mormons comprised almost 10%

of the population of Las Vegas.

In 1954, the Mormon contingent was still relatively small,

but the Mormon-dominated Continental Bank

of Salt Lake City nonetheless decided

to open the Bank of Las Vegas.

E. Perry Thomas, a Mormon-connected financial

manager employed by Continental in Utah,

was sent to run the new institution.

Thomas is noteworthy because he became the first banker

to start lending money to the folks who would soon

come to run the town with an iron fist--

casino operators.

Whether they were actually criminals or not,

these operators had an unsavory reputation

due to their connections with a traditionally organized

crime-controlled area of gambling.

When asked about the risks that came along

with dealing with such clients, Thomas

would simply respond that he was in the banking business.

And regardless of what business they were in,

the Casino people were good loans.

Thomas' decision led to a quick increase

in the size and number of Las Vegas casinos.

He also fought to change rules that

prohibited corporate ownership of casinos, presumably

because corporate borrowers were also good loans.

This would also bring the casinos

under the jurisdiction of the SEC or Securities

and Exchange Commission, which would effectively

become overseers of the casino. business.

This would ensure that mobsters and organized crime types

could no longer use casinos as fronts for laundering money.

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They say that in the 1940s and '50s,

Las Vegas was run by the mafia, and that is completely true.

But in the 1960s, a new player came to town--

Howard Hughes.

Hughes was a celebrity businessman, film producer,

and aviator.

He was a Titan of American industry.

But towards the end of his life, he

was also an increasingly unwell man,

prone to extremely eccentric behavior.

On Thanksgiving weekend in 1966, Hughes arrived in Las Vegas

by train and took up residence at the Desert Inn.

He stayed there for a month, never once leaving his room.

Eventually, the owner of the hotel

threatened to kick Hughes out.

Hughes didn't want to leave, so he bought the hotel.

That's the kind of thing you can do to end an argument when

you're Howard Hughes.

Needless to say, he continued to stay holed up

on the hotel's top floor.

After that, he started buying up Las Vegas casinos,

left and right-- snatching them right out

of the hands of the mob.

However, since he never left the Desert Inn,

he needed a team of executive assistants and advisors

to oversee his business dealings.

This team was led by a man named Frank Gay, who was curiously

known as Bill.

Gay was a Mormon that Hughes had hired right out of UCLA.

Hughes preferred working with Mormons

because he knew they didn't drink, smoke or gamble.

He thought this made them more likely to avoid being tempted

by the vises of Vegas and handle his business with greater

discretion and integrity.

Hughes was so committed to using Mormons

that they wound up composing the entirety of Gay's team.

The group quickly became known around town

as the Mormon Mafia.

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By the mid-1960s, Las Vegas was heavily

influenced by people who were either members of

or associated with various American mafias.

While Mormon businessmen had been the ones

to encourage the growth of the relatively shady gambling

business, they were simultaneously

concerned about what it was doing to the city's image.

They eventually realized that the solution was to arrange

for the mob-owned casinos to be purchased by someone with

a more legitimate image--

someone like Howard Hughes.

Worried that if his involvement was generally known--

he would get gouged on the purchase prices--

Hughes' casino-buying spree was ultimately

enabled E. Perry Thomas, who would pose

as the buyer in Hughes' stead.

His involvement remained a secret.

And by the time that secret got out,

the billionaire aviator already owned over a dozen properties

in the town.

In the late 1960s, future Casino magnate Steve Wynn

was a small-time investor in real estate

and a minority owner of the Frontier Hotel.

Wynn became a protege of E. Perry Thomas, who eventually

helped him acquire his first big Las Vegas

property, the downtown Golden Nugget Casino.

Wynn had a knack for the casino business,

and he would go on to acquire or build

many of the city's most famous casinos,

including Treasure Island, The Mirage, and The Bellagio.

Even today, Steve Wynn remains one

of the international gambling industry's

most high-profile and successful figures.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

E. Perry Thomas' main job may have

been to buy casinos on behalf of Howard Hughes,

but that's not all he did.

Thomas also spearheaded a change in Nevada

state law that would allow corporations to own and operate

casinos.

Up until the 1960s, only individuals

could be licensed to own or operate a casino.

The law was intended to make it clear

exactly who was responsible for the ownership

and operation of the casino, theoretically

making it much, much harder for criminals

and other undesirables from getting

a foothold in the industry.

However, like a lot of things, this

worked much better in theory than it did in reality.

The mob was able to skirt the law

by hiring clean front men who could

conceal the operation's more sinister backers.

Thomas realized that corporate ownership would not only

greatly increase the growth of the city,

it would bring with it the scrutiny of the Securities

and Exchange Commission.

This would act as an additional filter to underworld influence

and further bolster the image of Las

Vegas as a legitimate tourist destination.

Thomas turned out to be right on the money.

The law had massive repercussions

for the future of the city.

As one historian put it, without it,

Vegas would still be in the dark ages.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

If you know anything about Mormons,

you know that they are traditionally opposed

to what they perceive as sinful activities, like gambling.

In their eyes, gambling is viewed as sinful

because it's akin to acquiring money

from someone without giving anything of value in return.

Nonetheless, this outlook didn't stop the Mormons

from helping turn Las Vegas into the largest gambling

destination in the United States.

In fact, many of them even work in casinos.

How is this apparent contradiction resolved?

Well, the church's stance seems to be pretty simple.

Don't touch the dice.

If you need even more proof of the Mormon church's

traditional power in Las Vegas, look no further

than the local political scene.

In 1940, Berkley Bunker was appointed to the US Senate

to fill a vacancy left by the death

of the former officeholder.

Bunker, a native of Clark County--

the county in which Las Vegas is situated--

was the former speaker of the Nevada State Assembly

as well as the first Mormon Senator from Nevada.

More recently, Democrat Harry Reid

represented Nevada in Washington DC.

However, Mormon politicians from Nevada tend to be conservative,

and they tend to stay in office a long, long time.

So what do you think?

Who really built Las Vegas?

Mobsters or Mormons?

Let us know in the comments below.

And while you're at it, check out some of these other videos

from Our Weird History.