A U.S. Senator from Nevada, Patrick McCarran sponsored laws that closely controlled Communists and foreigners. His statue appears in Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. Birthplace: Reno.
Las Vegas has been the home to many colorful characters, including intensely private billionaire Howard Hughes. A former movie director, Hughes built an air transportation empire that included Hughes Aircraft and TWA. Birthplace: Houston, Texas.
William Stewart believed in miners' rights and defended the claimants to the Comstock Lode. He was a U.S. Senator from Nevada, and wrote the Fifteenth Amendment to our country's Constitution. Birthplace: Galen, New York.
A shrewd financier, George Wingfield made money by owning various mining operations in the state of Nevada. He owned twelve state banks at the time of the stock market crash in 1929, and his financial empire collapsed along with the rest of the country. Birthplace: Fort Smith, Arkansas.
A member of the Paiute tribe, Wovoka had a vision in 1889 of the Ghost Dance, a dance that would restore stolen lands to the Indian tribes. His followers wore Ghost Dance clothing which supposedly rendered them invincible against the white man's guns. Unfortunately, during an incident at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, hundreds of Indian men, women and children wearing the Ghost Dance clothing were slaughtered. Birthplace: unknown.
