History of the Southern Paiutes

By Robert L. Candiotti

Archaeologists generally agree that, for several centuries, indigenous people - now known as the Southern Paiute Indians - lived in the area that ultimately became Southern Nevada.

   This includes the area where Southern Nevada's new Ivanpah International Airport is scheduled to eventually become operational, with the purpose of relieving congestion and air traffic delays at McCarran International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas.

   Gazing over Ivanpah Valley today, which is mostly arid desert, one may wonder how the Southern Paiutes and their generations of ancestors endured. (Of interest is the book, published in 1967, by Margaret M. Wheat, Survival Arts of the Primitive Paiutes.)

   Primarily, the Paiutes were successful because they clearly and intimately understood where their water came from. Their water rose up out of the ground as natural springs that were sometimes evident, and sometimes hidden.
   Knowledge of water locations was transferred between Paiute groups. It is documented that the location of hidden water was even indicated by petroglyphs carved in stone so that Paiutes, who were often on the move to follow their food, could survive by knowing how to access the underground water.
   Because the weather differed somewhat every year, the Paiutes often traveled dozens of miles to the most promising food sources. They were experts at finding the best sources of food in the ever-changing arid desert. Still, water was always the central ingredient for their survival.
   Unfortunately for the Indians, water also was the central survival ingredient for the Europeans who began passing through the Southern Paiute's territory.
   In 1776, the Escalante-Dominguez Spanish exploration crossed Southern Paiute land seeking a route from Santa Fe to the Pacific ocean. By 1830, significantly blazed by William Wolfskill, the route known as the Old Spanish Trail was established. To get through the vast desert, Spanish caravans traveled from Paiute water spring to Paiute water spring.
   Consequently, the Paiutes moved their locations and food gathering patterns to avoid confrontations with the caravans.
   In 1849, the Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) began to settle on Paiute land, and the gold rush migration to California also followed the Old Spanish Trail, which went through Las Vegas.
   Historical documents indicate that the Paiutes suffered slave raids by caravans from Santa Fe that took Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) children to be sold as slaves in California. It is written that in 1850, Mormons also began to buy children from the Indians.
   Hostility toward the Nuwuvi increased, and the Indians tended to increasingly avoid coming in contact with newcomers to their land. They became outnumbered. They retreated into the desert, or attached themselves to relatively safe villages, such as Las Vegas.

   A band of Southern Paiutes resides in the Las Vegas area today. Some representatives of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe - as well as other Paiute bands, and various Indian tribes - did attend the Tribal Public Scoping Meetings regarding Ivanpah Valley Airport that were held by the BLM, FAA and Clark County Department of Aviation in the fall of 2006. Authorities at BLM and FAA have indicated that input from Native Americans will be welcomed throughout the process of the Environmental Impact Statement.