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March 31, 1 » f w 2>3 Kiss Margaret Harrises P. 0. Box 28 Green Parras, Connecticut ©ear Margaret* This ie in reply to your letter request-* Ing information on the water system of this city. I ara very glad that you selected Las Vegas, because water is very closely tied in with the history of this city, and, in fact, was the reason why the town was established hers in the first place* When the railroad was being built through this part of the country shortly after 1900, to con­nect up the Interior of our country with the Paeiflo Coast, one of the essentials was, of course, water, which had to be had in order to use In the steam lo­comotives , as well as for construction gangs. As you may imagine, in this arid country water was very scarce* but the railroad builders heard of a place named "Las Vegas* (which means *The Meadows* in Spanish) where the Indiana said there were two springs that would furnish ample water for the locomotive# and the construct ion men* Arrangements were made to purchase the two springs and the land on which the springs were located, and thus the Las Vegas Land and Water Company was bora* There are no rivers in this immediate vici­nity, the closest being the Colorado Biver, some 25 miles away, and it is necessary to secure our water supply from the underground channel, either through natural springs or by drilling artesian wells. For quite a long time, the two springs supplied the town with water, but when the Influx of population was felt with the beginning of construction of the famous Boulder ©a®, it was necessary to provide additional supplies of water for the thousands of workmen coming In here to build the dam* So a well was drilled t© a