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Octavius Decatur Gass
1827-1924
Octavius Decatur Gass was born in 1827 in Richland
County, Ohio. As a young man, he moved to California in search of gold.
At the time, people from all over the country were moving out West to find
gold. Gass searched for years but didn't find any gold. But in 1865, he
came to Las Vegas.
Finding the Old Mormon
Fort
Gass found a deserted fort left by the Mormons. With the help of some
friends, Gass restored the Mormon Fort. He thought it would be a good
place for travelers on the Old Spanish Trail to stop and rest. He also
wanted to start a farm.
With a source of water from the Las
Vegas Springs, the ranch produced grain and vegetables. The orchards
grew apples, peaches, figs, apricots and grapes. He also raised horses
and cattle.
The fort was the perfect rest stop on the road from
Southern California to Salt Lake City. Travelers could rest, bathe and
repair wagons at the fort's blacksmith shop. Once the fort was fixed up,
Gass renamed the fort the Las Vegas Rancho.
Losing the ranch
Gass married Mary Virginia Simpson, a niece of Ulysses S. Grant, in 1872.
Mary Gass moved into the ranch and together they had six children. It
seemed that Octavius Decatur Gass was now a successful family man and
rancher, but he was heavily in debt.
Gass tried to sell his ranch, but couldn't. In 1879,
he borrowed money from a man named Archibald Stewart. He expected to grow
a good crop that year, and thought he would be able to sell his harvest
and pay back the debt.
But bad weather destroyed his crops and he could not
pay back the loan. He was forced to give up the ranch to Archibald Stewart.
Gass moved to California with his family and never returned to Las Vegas.
Stewart and his family moved to Las Vegas to take over the ranch in 1882
and began another story in Las
Vegas history. |
