No other city in the US has reinvented itself so often and with such profitable results as Las Vegas. Set in an unpromising landscape, bordering three deserts, artesian waters beneath the land first supported life here. Successive groups, from Native Americans to Mexican traders, Mormons, and railroad workers, all survived the environment. They added to a unique set of factors that gave birth to a Las Vegas they would barely recognize today. No longer unique in offering casinos, the city still draws the crowds. Associated with some of the biggest names in show business, such as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, with eccentric millionaires like Howard Hughes, with mobsters such as Bugsy Siegel, and above all with glamour, Vegas continues to fire the imagination as the fun city of stretch limos, showgirls, and an "anything goes" ethos for those who can pay for it.
from: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Changing-Face-Of-Las-Vegas&id=6491971
