It seems rather fitting as the days count down to the Frontier closing (July 15th), that we should embark upon the history of the hotel.

Be sure to read the previous entry regarding the Pair-O-Dice Club and the 91 Club:

http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/display/ShowJournal?moduleId=1093544&currentPage=2

In 1941, theater magnate R.E. Griffith and his nephew, architect William J. Moore, were passing through Las Vegas on their way to California to purchase building materials for a resort they were planning in Deming, New Mexico. They saw the El Rancho Vegas under construction. Tommy Hull's resort hotel was rising alone on the dusty highway except for a few bars and saloons. Griffith and Moore thought there was room for at least one more resort. “We came to Las Vegas and found that the opportunities were fabulous.” Moore recounted in his oral history.

They scraped their plans for the resort in Deming and decided to build on property just south of the El Rancho Vegas. They figured if they built south of the El Rancho Vegas, travelers on the Los Angeles Highway would see their resort first and be tempted to pull in to their resort instead of the El Rancho Vegas. They tracked down Guy McAfee, the owner of the property and for $35,000 bought 35 acres of highway-fronted property. McAfee was overjoyed to have sold the land for so much money, thinking he had suckered a couple of rubes into overpaying for the property. Moore and his colleague, Jack Corgan, did the final drawings for the resort in a hotel room in Dallas.

In December 1941, as the El Rancho was nearing completion, Moore moved to Las Vegas to oversee construction of the Hotel Last Frontier. From the beginning, Griffith and Moore set out to be become the favorite locale of tourists. Despite the remote location and the scoffs of people in town, the Last Frontier began to take shape. Unfortunately for Griffith and Moore, they were building their resort while World War II was raging. On the homefront, rationing was the law of the day. 

Moore's group proved it, but then ran into a catch: The Board also had authority to seize materials for the war effort. Proving they had the materials handed the government a list of what was available to commandeer.

"So they came in on our construction job at the hotel and essentially grabbed all of the material we had having to do with anything electrical and took the material in trucks to the Army air base." William Moore, Oral History-The Pioneer Tapes, 1981.

The rationing forced Moore to get creative. He bought a mine in Pioche, Nevada so that they could strip it of all the wiring, conduit and switches and then sent it all to the construction site. He bought two ranches in Moapa Valley so that they would be able to provide their clientele with fresh eggs, chicken and beef.

To save on costs, they incorporated the buildings that had made up the Pair-O-Dice and the 91 Club into their plans.

Despite the rationing, they imported the finest stone masons and Indians from New Mexico to lay the stonework for the fireplaces and patios. They bought the forty foot long, solid mahogany bar that had been the centerpiece, for as long as folks could remember, of the old (and about to be shuttered) Arizona Club on Block 16 in downtown Las Vegas.

They hired expert silversmiths and saddlemakers to craft saddles and other finery for the hotel's bar and lobby.

From the beginning, Griffith and Moore had envisioned "the old west in modern splendor" and that included an old pioneer town, called the Last Frontier Village. In 1947, Moore began working with Robert "Dobey Doc" Caudill on the layout of the Village.  Caudill began the arduous task of filling the Village with authentic props. By the time Caudill was finished acquiring all the props from ghost towns around the state and other means, he had almost 900 tons (yes, you read that right) of Old West memorabilia.  In addition to the items he traveled the state collecting, Dobey Doc had a private collection of guns and other historic items.  Moore convinced him to put his private collection on display as well.  The Last Frontier Village opened in 1950 and some say was the inspiration for Walt Disney's Frontierland a few years later at Disneyland in Anaheim.  

The Last Frontier Village was a mix of museum pieces and retail establishments (the original mix use property, perhaps?).  There was a complete railroad train and tracks.  According to Paul Ralli, a local attorney who wrote about his days in Las Vegas in Viva Vegas, the Village included "a drug store, general store, post office, schoolhouse and jail, as well as the "original printing plant of the venerable Reese River Reveille, Nevada's oldest newspaper".

Props included a Joss House (that Caudill had taken from Elko) -- a small temple built for Chinese railroad workers in the 1860s and said to be the oldest surviving in the United States. (It is now in storage at the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society in Las Vegas). There was a wooden jail which served Tuscarora in the 1870s. Its interior walls were still equipped with leg irons, and charred by an escape-by-fire plot which went awry and burned to death the man trying to escape. There were real prairie schooners as well as real old-fashioned horse-drawn fire engines.

The Last Frontier Village was the first home to the first wedding chapel on the Strip, The Little Church of the West which would become a favorite for eloping Hollywood couples.

Unlike the sprawling exterior of the El Rancho Vegas, the Last Frontier was modeled more like a traditional hotel, albeit western style:

"The main building was in the form of a U. The part [with] the rooms was in the form of an old fort--in other words, completely enclosed on four sides with entrances under the second floor back into the center section, which was highly landscaped in a western-type character. There was an outside boiler room or machinery room that housed most of the major machinery for the operation. Other than house the boilers, it housed the major air conditioning equipment. We used cold water circulated in tunnels under the hotel to cool, with an individual unit in each room." - William Moore, Oral History- The Pioneer Tapes, 1981

Maxine Lewis contacted Sophie Tucker and signed her to play the fledgling resort (until El Rancho Vegas owner Tommy Hull stole her away). The Last of the Red Hot Mamas had no idea where Las Vegas was when she agreed to perform. She arrived at the Train Depot downtown and was met by Lewis and the local Fire Chief. She rode to the Last Frontier in style, on the back of the hook and ladder truck.

By most accounts, Moore was a promoter. He began junkets, first by bus then later plane (using Kirk Kerkorian's chartered planes), to entice Californians to visit the resort. Sunday afternoons were scheduled with rodeos and roping contests.

Moore proved himself very adapt at the business of running the Last Frontier. He was elected twice as the President of the Chamber of Commerce. His reputation for honesty so impressed Governor Vail Pittman that Pittman named Moore to the Nevada State Tax Commission despite Moore's involvement with gaming. The Nevada State Tax Commission would become the forerunner of licensing casino owners in Nevada. In 1955, Moore was a principal witness in the Kefauver Crime Commission hearings in Las Vegas. 

To accomodate the growing number of tourists coming by auto, a Texaco gas station was created as a 1856 fire house which was operated by William "Andy" Anderson. On display was a hand-pulled fire engine. The carriage was supported by four large wood-spoked wheels and had a revolving drum in the center of wood, brass and nickel. What attracted the greatest number of visitors was the brilliant neon sign over the gas station canopy. It depicted horses drawing a pumper, even to smoke belching from the stack, with two firemen aboard.

"It was designed by [Walter] Zick and [Harris] Sharp, Las Vegas architects. Originally, because Texaco [had] been using a fire chief—old, you might say, western-type advertising on their stations and promotion—we felt that it was a good tie-in with the old fire engine and tied in with Texaco's advertising…. Part of the idea was to put showers, restrooms, and so forth that would be inducive [sic] to the people cleaning up after a drive across the desert. The restrooms were rather elaborate—quite a number of stools and lavatories—various types of equipment that we could use in promotion, where the people would have the service that could be advertised on the road"  William Moore Oral History - The Pioneer Tapes, 1981.

In 1950, Moore announced that the Hotel had purchased an additional 42 acres and was undergoing a $1 million dollar expansion program.  

In 1951, the Golden Slipper Saloon and Gambling Hall opened as part of the Last Frontier Village.   Guests were encouraged to wager on an antique Wheel of Fortune that had reportedly been used in 19th Century mining camps.  The Golden Slipper had the Flora-Dora Girls, a dance troupe in period costumes, that performed nightly in the Old Bar.

Also in 1951, Moore decided that he needed a change and put the Last Frontier up for sale. Jake Kozloff, Beldon Katleman and Guy McAfee bought the property for $5.5 million.  Moore would take his profits and become involved in both the El Cortez and the Showboat Hotels.

In 1953, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey played together for the first time in twenty years to a sell-out crowd in the Ramona Room.

In 1954, a group of buyers that included Murray Randolph, a real estate executive from Los Angeles, Irv Leff, a Los Angeles businessman and Maurice Friedman purchased the Frontier from Kozloff and the others.  The new owners, however, sensed that America's tastes were changing and refurbished the hotel into more of a mid-century space age theme and away from the original western theme.  The ad slogan was "Out of this World".  To accomodate their new ideas, they built the New Frontier just north of the Hotel Last Frontier.  The New Frontier was a two-story building with balconies on the second floor and a porte cochere that welcomed auto drivers off the highway.  The front lawn of the Hotel Last Frontier was paved over a parking lot (it's the Vegas way).

To accomodate the New Frontier buildings, the Little Church of the West was moved to the south end of the property closer to the  Silver Slipper and Last Frontier Village.

The lobby of the New Frontier was done in charcoal gray with white and pink leather sofas. A mural depicted alien space men headed towards the casino.  The Cloud 9 Lounge had a mural of celestial objects including flying saucers.  The chandliers in the casino were also shaped like spacecraft.

The Venus Room was built to accomodate 808 person audience with twelve horseshoe style tiers making the showroom a large amphitheater.  For the late show, it could hold 972 people.  The stage was 38 feet in diameter with a revolving stage _{30 feet} in diameter and two side stages.  The Orchestra was on a hydraulic lift, the first in town, so that the musicians wouldn't obscure the view of the audience. 

The pylon sign for the New Frontier rose 126 feet in the desert sun. 

The Last Frontier continued to operate the casino at the New Frontier while the owners were under investigation and awaiting issue of their gaming license. Mario Lanza was to open the new Venus Showroom.  Unfortunately, Lanza is said to have gone on a bender and was unable to sing that night.  Ray Bolger, Jimmy Durante and Gisele McKenzie among others stepped in to keep the evening from being a disaster.

In addition to the Last Frontier Village, the Frontier Sportsdrome was built behind the resort.  The Sportsdrome was the home to the Nevada Racing Association and every other week, 52 stock cars would take to the track for a 105-lap race that was always well attended by locals and tourists alike. 

In 1955, Ronald Reagan graced the stage of the Ramona Room in a short-lived career as a niteclub act.  Reagan hosted, told stories, performed with a singing group called the Continentals and even performed with trained chimpanzees. The Blackburn Twins and Evelyn Ward and the Honey Brothers completed the bill.

In June, 1955, Jules Leeds assumed ownership of the Texaco station and announced that the gas station would be open 24 hours a day. 

In 1956, the hotel was leased to German munitions heiress Vera Krupp, Louis Manchon and Sidney Bliss. Krupp and her partners didn't see eye to eye and they were losing money. In order to avoid being sued, she returned the property to the 1954 owners on St. Patrick's Day, 1957. The casino was closed down and hotel was operated as a motel until December of 1957, while they searched for a casino operator suitable for licensing.

They soon sold it to a group of investors that included Warren "Doc" Bailey (who owned the Hacienda), Maury Friedman and T.W. Richardson and the casino reopened.

In 1956, the Ramona Room was booked with the following: Shecky Greene was the opening act, Elvis Presley was the second act and the main act was Freddie Martin and his Orchestra.  Liberace (who had started his Vegas career at the Last Frontier in the late 1940s) joined Elvis on stage for some hi-jinks but the overall reaction to the young Presley was less than stellar. The tourists that came to Las Vegas in 1956 were not the up and coming rock and roll crowd but an older crowd who preferred Tin Pan Alley hits and singers. Jake Thompson, who was born in Las Vegas in 1941, was a busboy at the New Frontier. Hitching a ride with another busboy, they passed a billboard for the line-up. "Who's Elvis Presley?" Jake asked his friend. "Some opera singer" was the reply. Jake figured that the tips would not be rolling in that night. As he finished clearing the tables, he was headed out to smoke when Elvis took the stage. At the opening chords of his act, Jake turned around and spent the whole set watching from the steps of the stage.

A Travel Guide published in 1957, noted:

"Tourists enjoy the Chuck Wagon suppers, served from ten in the evening till seven the next morning – price, $1.50 – and breakfast is served twenty-four hours a day. Nowhere in the world is there anything quite like it – this informal magnificence at multi-million dollar hotels at little more than motel rates; and you can take your choice of nearly a dozen of the nation's top-flight shows for the price of a drink. Of course, the casinos carry the load".

In 1958, following the Late Show, at 4:30 am on Sunday mornings, the Venus Room was used for Mass.  The first Mass took place on Oct. 8, 1958.  In attendance were Doc Bailey, Preston Foster and 127 employees ranging from dancers to pit bosses to maitre d's.  The Mass helped spur interest in building a church on or near the Strip for hotel employees and performers.  The Guardian Angel Church designed by Paul Revere Williams would be built a few years later.

Richard Taylor who was Bailey's right-hand man at the Hacienda was transferred over to the New Frontier to manage the hotel.

"Doc's most exciting idea was 30 years too yearly. At that time (1958) the word "condominium" was just beginning to appear in the business sections of the dailies.  Many had a hard time pronouncing it. But Bailey caught the concept immediately and announced to his board of directors he wanted to build the world's largest hotel by selling 2,500 rooms to individuals under the new condominium idea.

All he needed, he said, was 2,500 people to invest $10,000 each (the cost of constructing one room in those days) and he could accomplish his goal. Then the hotel would rent the rooms for the owners and send owners their income dividends quarterly. The fee to book and service the rooms would be reasonable as Bailey was only interested in owning the casino and profiting from it ... not the rooms!

A front page story of the Las Vegas Evening Journal announced Bailey's team: Shields B. Craft, an owner operator of a small feeder airlines was to be the first Vice President; and myself was to be the Managing Director.

Well known movie star Preston Foster was to be the greeter at the new New Frontier. Preston Foster had a record of 116 feature films to his credit and was recognized everywhere he went. He always played a friendly role in his films and his personality fit Bailey's method of operating.  It didn't take long for trouble to surround the new operators. The New Frontier was in the center of the Strip and had an entirely different type of customer.  It soon became evident that the type of employees here were different from those who worked at the Hacienda. so what the Hacienda had developed out at the end of the Strip so successfully, could not be duplicated at the New Frontier Hotel.

It was my responsibility to take some of the Hacienda's lifeblood (cash) from the Hacienda casino cage down to the New Frontier cage weekly ... sometimes daily ... when losses there could not be turned around.  Even with the smash hit show ("Holiday in Japan"), we could not make any money. In fact, the cost of the show policy just exacerbated the problem.  Even with well-known and respected casino executives like Eddie Hughes running the pit, we had a hard time paying our bills. Our purchasing agent Larry Rovere had his work cut out for him. He had to keep the hotel supplied while our bookkeeper Leonard Markson couldn't pay the bills.

After almost two years of fighting an uphill battle, Bailey finally decided that the constant drain on the Hacienda finances was hurting the Hacienda and had to be stopped.  The cost of rehabilitation of the old section of the hotel and installing a moving sidewalk to the adjoining operation we called "The Last Frontier" in memory of the original hotel, contributed to our problems.

The town was shedding its image of the Old West and the "Last Frontier" failed badly. No one was interested in the past.
The new and modern drew the customers as the Sahara and Riviera changed the scene in that part of the Strip.""  Richard Taylor, Oral History, 2002

The more things change, it seems, the more they stay the same.

Special thanks to UNLV's Special Collections, Las Vegas Review-Journal, A.D. Hopkins and George Stamos.

William Moore

                                                 The Hotel Last Frontier 

                                         The Last Frontier Village 

More history on the Frontier on the next page!