Descendents of pioneers honored by centennial

Wednesday, May 11, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

Former District Judge John Mendoza remembers how his grandfather Fermin Mendoza, a part-time bootlegger, used to react when he was tipped off when federal authorities were coming to raid the family's home at F Street and Bonanza Road.

"He would take the bottles of booze and put them in our pool, then have all of us grandkids jump in and splash around when the revenuers came by so the bottles at the bottom could not be seen," said Mendoza, who was captain and halfback on the undefeated and unscored-upon 1944 Las Vegas High football team.

"They'd look at us, see just a bunch of kids playing and move on."

In addition to the relatively well known names of Von Tobel, Cashman, Bunker, Frehner and Foley were other Las Vegas pioneers with the names Mendoza, Lopez, Chavez, Sanchez and Cruz at a founder's luncheon Tuesday at Lawry's The Prime Rib restaurant. The event was part of the Las Vegas Centennial Celebration's Founders Week events.

About 40 families from all walks of life who settled the town between 1905 and 1930 were honored with glass trophies, and Hispanic pioneers were well represented.

"Many Hispanics were railroad workers and miners who got caught up in the Mexican Revolution (of the early 20th century)," Mendoza said, noting that Fermin Mendoza was a railroad maintenance worker who, after he came to Las Vegas, made liquor in his basement as a side vocation.

"(Pancho) Villa came in with his army and 'recruited' the railroad workers into the rebel forces, including my grandfather. As Villa kept losing battles, he was pushed back and, eventually, many of his soldiers settled in Nevada."

The Mendozas came to Las Vegas in 1916. The Lopez family settled on A Street in 1920 and worked for the railroad. The Chavezes moved here in 1923, worked in the mines and lived on First Street. The Sanchez family came here in 1911, and the Cruz family arrived in 1923. Both of those families worked in mining and on the railroad.

"This luncheon is great because it gets to the roots of what a centennial should be all about -- the pioneers," Mendoza said. "It shows people that everything didn't just start here when Bugsy (Siegel) opened the Flamingo (in 1946). There were things going on here long before that."

Former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, whose father came to Las Vegas in 1928 to finish high school, echoed that sentiment.

"Virtually none of the families here today have roots in gaming, yet they are all descendants of our pioneers," Bryan said. "That is not to downplay the importance of gaming, but clearly the railroad, agriculture and mining played a far bigger role here than gambling in those early days."

Gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931 but did not start to become an important industry in Las Vegas until the 1940s.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman told the gathering that their ancestors "had the vision to come into our community and see into our future what this wonderful place in the desert could become."

Others in the audience included 92-year-old Ed Von Tobel Jr., son of hardware and lumber pioneer Ed Von Tobel Sr.; Tim Cashman, a descendant of business leader "Big Jim" Cashman; federal judge George Foley, son of federal judge Roger Foley; and Mary Stewart Carpenter, a descendant of rancher Helen J. Stewart.