How Mormons Made Sin City

It’s less than two miles from the old las vegas Mormon Fort State Park to The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, but 159 years separate the founding of the fort from the Las Vegas premiere of the controversial musical The Book of Mormon on June 10. What happened in between the two events is a tale of the occasional heartbreak and extraordinary labor with which Mormons helped create modern Clark County—and in the process gained influence far beyond their numbers.

When the musical sprung from the irreverent minds of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to become the toast of Broadway in 2011, wags around Las Vegas wondered whether it could or would be performed here. That the question would even be asked is a sign of the power that many Southern Nevadans believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wields in their community. It’s also an acknowledgment of how much Mormons have shaped the community, often in ways that fit with their church’s history. Admirers praise their commitment; critics often find them insular. One longtime observer recalls that upon moving to Southern Nevada more than three decades ago, what he heard “reminded me of the old anti-Semitic line, ‘The Jews control everything.’ People talked about Mormons the same way—they stick together, they help each other a lot, the same kind of basic stereotype."