Columnist Susan Snyder: A Frank account of our history

Friday, May 2, 2003 | 5:04 a.m.

Frank Wright is gone.

What will we do without him?

The 64-year-old historian died April 25 from complications of colon cancer, taking many of Southern Nevada's secrets and stories with him.

"He was so integrated into what you thought of Las Vegas and what you could know about Las Vegas," said Elizabeth von Till Warren, a Jean historian and president of the Old Spanish Trails Association.

"We'll feel it in many ways over a long period of time," she said. "His presence was unassuming and all encompassing at the same time. His influence permeates a lot of things."

Warren met Wright shortly after she moved to the Las Vegas Valley in 1969. She recalled him as a historian who worked hard to find the truth. His discoveries didn't always fit the popular local myths or culturally accepted stories.

But that's what historians are supposed to do, and Wright did it without exception or hesitation.

"You tell what happened. You tell why it happened, and you hope people can accept that. But that doesn't always happen," Warren said. "People don't like to hear their myths are myths."

Myths are hard to change once the bronze markers go up. I had lived in Las Vegas about two years when I learned from Wright that the Old Spanish Trail didn't cross the Las Vegas Valley. The trail we have is an alternate.

In that same afternoon I learned Rafael Rivera likely didn't name Las Vegas, because recent research showed he most likely passed south of the valley. And I learned Bugsy Siegel didn't have any vision beyond his own bank account. Siegel took over a faltering casino, held a Christmas Eve opening then stole from it until the Mafia whacked him.

Wright could cite report, author and section of every source for each bit of information that helped him paint a more accurate -- albeit more controversial and complicated -- portrait of Southern Nevada history.

"People don't like complicated things. They want to keep it simple," Warren said. "But simple doesn't cut it. History is complicated. History is a work in progress. The state of knowledge changes. If it doesn't change, then you're stuck in a frame you can't get out of. The devil's in the details."

And many of those details were stored in Wright's head. History was never more alive than when he related it. He is one of those people who showed us that history is a living thing that grows as we grow and changes as we change.

Those of us who volunteer at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park have changed some of the tales we tell about Southern Nevada to fit a more accurate chronology. A lot of that is because of the efforts of Wright, who taught two of our annual training sessions until his health prevented him from doing so.

Wright told and retold the stories in even, scholarly tones. But the twinkle in his eyes revealed his passion for finding and repeating the truth.

"I'll miss Frank. We'll all miss Frank," Warren said. "We'll miss him in ways we cannot even begin to know now."

We'll miss him every time we have questions.

And one question is certain to endure.

What will we do without him?