[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 18496-18497]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   PROCLAIMING THE STATE OF NEVADA RECOGNIZE HELEN J. STEWART AS THE 
``FIRST LADY OF LAS VEGAS'', AND HONOR HER STATUE WHICH WILL BE RAISED 
  AT THE OLD LAS VEGAS MORMON FORT STATE HISTORIC PARK ON DECEMBER 3, 
                       2011 IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MARK E. AMODEI

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 30, 2011

  Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Helen J. Stewart 
as ``First Lady of Las Vegas'', and honor her statue which will be 
raised at the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park on December 
3, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  Helen, with her husband Archibald, three children and one on the way, 
arrived in the Las Vegas Valley in 1882 and resided on the land located 
around the abandoned Mormon Fort situated near what today is the 
intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard North and Washington Avenue. Later 
left with four children and another on the way after the death of her 
husband in 1884, she became a rancher and business woman and presided 
over the operations of the ranch. She began buying land and became the 
largest landowner in Lincoln County. She later sold her land to the 
railroad in 1902 and hence forth the city of Las Vegas developed.
  As the new town expanded, Helen became active in the community 
serving in many leadership roles such as one of the founders of Christ 
Episcopal Church, charter member of the Mesquite Club, president of the 
Las Vegas branch of the Nevada Historical Society, supporter of women's 
suffrage, first woman elected to the school board on the Republican 
ticket, and as a friend to the Paiute Indians who worked on her ranch, 
sold ten acres of land to the federal government to be used as an 
Indian school and semi-reservation which remains tribal land today.
  On July 26, 2010 the Historical Commission of the Las Vegas 
Centennial awarded the ``Friends of the Fort'' $99,000 for the Helen J. 
Stewart statue to be sculpted by Benjamin Victor of Aberdeen, South 
Dakota.
  Both the State of Nevada and I recognize the statue of Helen J. 
Stewart to be a fitting recognition of the many ``firsts'' that this 
exceptional Nevadan lady forever known as the ``First Lady of Las 
Vegas'' accomplished in her lifetime.

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