On July 4, 1879, the first train, belonging to the New Mexico & Southern Pacific Railroad, arrived in Las Vegas. With the arrival of the railroad, a new part of Las Vegas quickly sprang up. This new part was called "New Town" or "East Las Vegas," while the original part of town was now known as "Old Town" or "West Las Vegsa." With the arrival of the train also came dozens upon dozens of killers, rustlers, robbers, gamblers, and theives. Most of them were well-known from various Kansas cattle towns. Among these men were Dirty Dave Rudabaugh, Mysterious Dave Mather, Dutch Henry Born, John J. Webb, Doc Holliday, and the worst of them all, Hyman G. Neill, alias Hoodoo Brown. All of these hard cases came to be known as "The Dodge City Gang." Hoodoo Brown, leader of the gang, became the local justice of the peace, and appointed several other gang members as law officials. For the next few months, the Dodge City Gang robbed trains, held up stage-coaches, murdered people, and generally caused trouble. The gang eventually ceased to exist in the spring of 1880 or so. After the gang was no more, two members, Dirty Dave Rudabaugh and Tom Pickett, went south to Fort Sumner, where they joined the Rustlers.
This photo shows a street of what was New Town. Up ahead in the photo is the old plaza. All or most of these buildings were there back in the 1880s.
This photo shows the same street, only going the opposite direction, with the plaza behind it.
