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Show Great Escapes r Creating a (Desert Oasis TTie area was caZZecf Mesquite Flat because of the hardwood mesquite groves between the river and what is now called Mormon Mountains. 99 Bv CHERIE HUBER Clipper Correspondent Mesquite, Nev. is a town with a split personality. Is it an old pioneer town where nothing much happens or is it a place of bright lights and casinos, like a new Las Vegas? Part of the fascination of Mesquite Mes-quite is that it can be both or it can be the one the visitor prefers. A true pioneer spirit and religious zeal were the two driving forces behind the creation of Mesquite, Nev. in 1880. Spirit and zeal are still characteristic of Mesquite as the people who have always lived there try to hold on to the past in the face of a plastic plant that will employ 400 people, two casinos up and running, and another one on the way. Mesquite was basically a Mormon Mor-mon settlement A call had gone out from the Mormon Church elders in Sl George, for the colonization of the northern bank of the Virgin River in southern Nevada. Eight families from the St George area moved in to the had been established upstream and seemed to do better. Finally there was just one family left in Mesquite, Mes-quite, the Dudley Leavitt clan, with Leavitt, five wives and 48 children. Eventually even they had to give up. A little later five newly married couples from Bunkerville staked out farms in Mesquite. The settlement was surveyed and individual in-dividual farms were fenced. In 1897, a large tent structure was erected for school and church services. ser-vices. By 1900 the first frame buildings were up and the tent was taken down. A survey in 1986 showed that many of the 1,400 residents were direct descendants of the founding pioneers. Today, however, Mesquite is Nevada's second fastest growing city. One of the reasons for its growth is a new plastics factory that will employ over 400 people and bring much needed jobs to the area. Mesquite first really came to life when the Peppermill Resort, located at the west end of the town, moved into high gear. The Peppermill had been there for years and years as a truckstop. Finally it was recreated as a resort. As a resort it appears to be one of Utah's favorite places to come to enjoy the winter sun and relax. By far the majority of the cars bear Utah license plates. Back when the Peppermill was just kicking things off, there were so many guests from Davis County that special "Davis County parties" were a regular event. Anyone who has read the history of the Mesquite and the struggle for water would wonder what the founding foun-ding fathers would think about the Peppermill. There are seven swimming swim-ming pools, ponds, palms and lush green grass to enjoy. No struggle for water here. Not far away, across the Arizona line is the Peppermill's golf course. It's a first rate course that makes golfers willing to drive all the way from the West Coast to enjoy playing. play-ing. The golf course is another green oasis in a sea of sand. On the east side of town is the Virgin River Casino. It's a much more modest spread than the Peppermill, Pep-permill, but it did bring the cinema with first run movies to Mesquite. One thing the Peppermill and the Virgin River bring to Mesquite are places to eat. The Peppermill has four very ctedible restaurants v-,'! ' ' V 4 i tf n f I m f i eluding a first class steak house and Peggy Sue's, a restaurant that plays music from the '60s on a non-stop basis. So much new business and so many new people have moved to Mesquite that new businesses are being added all the time. One Las Vegas restaurant has actually opened open-ed a branch in Mesquite. Corollos serves what has got to be the best barbecued ribs in the whole country. coun-try. So much for the pioneer fare of bread and molasses. But some travelers are not interested inter-ested in hot tubs and bright lights. Mesquite still has a lot to offer. The Desert Valley Museum in Mesquite is quite a place. Most of the interesting things they have collected col-lected from the areas past are not behind glass but right up close where you can get a good look at them. What makes the museum even better is the charming group of volunteers vol-unteers who take care of it. Most of these ladies have lived in Mesquite all their lives and some of the things in the museum came from their homes. They share their memories with the visitors. They urge them to read the reports about Mesquite, some done by school children. Visitors should not pass up the chance to buy the little 25 cent cookbook. Or the cactus collection the volunteers sell for $1. After a tour of the museum, browse through Mesquite's two antique an-tique shops. Grandma's Attic carries a mixture of old and new things perfect for today's country look. Down the street at His and Hers there is an interesting eclectic selection of collectibles at prices far below those in St. George. If a shopper is seriously looking for something, he can tell the old cowboy on the 'His' side of the store. He might have just what is wanted salted away. Another important stop in Mesquite Mes-quite is the tourist information on the east side of town. It's run by two men who are enthusiastic about the area and who can answer most questions. Maps are available for the Nevada Byway tours that take the traveler to a wilder side of Nevada. The magazines, calendars of events and other information will also make planning easier. From a wide spot in the road to a one stop vacation place, Mesquite may be just the place to find the sun during,tne winter months. uninhabited, dry and rugged area that year in February. In May the original eight families were joined by seven more families. In all there were 71 men, women and children. The area they were to settle was called Mesquite Flat because of the hardwood mesquite groves on the flat narrow strip of land between the river and what is now called Mormon Mor-mon Mountain. Before the setders could grow any crops in this potentially bountiful boun-tiful agricultural district, they had to dig by hand a six-mile irrigation canal from the Virgin River to their farming area. Everyone pitched in. It took most of the year to dig the canal Once it was completed, two crops were planted, wheat for food and cotton for clothing. The basic daily diet of the pioneers in those hard times was bread with molasses and milk if they were lucky. Meat appeared on the table only occasionally occa-sionally because the men had little time to hunt. Another problem was the water. It was suitable for irrigation but it carried vast amounts of mud and minerals. To make the water drinkable, the settlers let barrels of the water stand for 12 hours so the mud could settle. Sediment six to 24 inches deep settled on the bottom of the barrels depending on the time of the year. Spring floods during the first year of operation caused the canal to break in 58 places. Boulders and logs were used to repair the breaks but the work was long and hard. The uncontrollable flooding of the Virgin River and the general hardships of living in the area almost brought an end to Mesquite before it ever really got started. Several families left because of illness. il-lness. Others could not endure the constant-struggle to survive: ;.,in the meantime, Bunkeville . jiasaji- j 1 - 1 " S F J i - " : i 1 1 -and Herts trhat the 0U Imtun, imui - about titr V R (, I At OIL FlfcLQ ! . I " M . 1 ' ' 4 - - . y- m i nmm V Xyice the city fathers of Mesquite advertized to get people to Fve there, Neither oil nor agriculture ever really paid off. |