Las Vegas, NM Beginnings

With the arrival of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad an even wider variety of people and architectural syles was brought to the town. "The arrival of the railroad on July 4, 1879 brought with it businesses and people both repectable and dubious. Murderers, robbers, thieves, gamblers, gunmen, swindlers, vagrants, and tramps poured in, transforming the eastern side of the settlement into a virtually lawless brawl. Among the notorious characters were such legends of the old as Doc Holliday..., Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Wyatt Earp.
Historian Ralph Emerson Twitchell once claimed, 'Without exception there was no town which harbored a more disreputable gang of desperados and outlaws than did Las Vegas.' " ( from wikipedia)
No wonder it is such a great place for movie making....