Octavius Decatur Gass is considered a founding father of Las Vegas. A street is named for him as well as a mountain 14 miles north of Las Vegas. He was born near Mansfield, Ohio on February 28, 1829. He attended Oberlin College, where he learned Spanish and mathematics among other subjects. He headed west in the gold rush, sailing around Cape Horn and arriving at San Francisco in January 1850. He headed for the El Dorado Gold Fields. He hooked up with another miner named Fenton M. Slaughter. They pooled their money and went to Los Angeles. Between 1853 and 1855 he was an irrigation inspector. In 1862 he got restless and headed back to the mines. He arrived at El Dorado Canyon near present day Boulder City. He filed six claims here on March 16, 1863. By December 17, 1864, he had filed a total of 29 claims. This proved unsuccessful too so he turned to ranching in the Las Vegas Valley.

In 1865 Nathaniel Lewis, Lewis R. Cole, and Gass took over the old Las Vegas Fort, which was now mostly in ruins. At first they called it Las Vegas Ranch. In the 1870s, he bought out his partners, so he had all 640 acres. It was all under irrigation by that time. He grew grains such as wheat, oats, and barley, and hired local Indians to harvest them. After the first harvest he planted beets, onions, cabbage, potatoes, melons, corn, and Mexican beans. He raised crops for wine, and grew figs, apricots, apples, and peaches. He sold them to travelers on the Mormon Trail and to miners going out to El Dorado Canyon and Potosi. He learned Paiute and got along well with them and the Mormon settlers.

In 1864, he became a congressman for the Western Corner of Arizona. This was while Las Vegas was still part of Arizona. He could also speak Spanish with the Mexicans. He was married to May Virginia on February 24, 1872. They eventually had seven children. On January 22, 1878, he purchased Spring Ranch. Eventually, financial difficulty caused him to sell out to Archibald Stewart, in May 1881. In June, the Gass Family left, driving 1,500 head of cattle 300 miles to a ranch in California. He sold them to wealthy Tombstone Arizona investor Richard Gird. Then he bought a farm near San Bernardino and tried to raise grapes. He did not succeed. In 1885, he tried his hand at prospecting but without luck. In 1888, he tried to work some quartz claims in the Yucaipa Valley. After 1900, he moved to his sons holdings near Bryn Mawr, California, and tended a garden and orange groves while in his 70s. He died December 10, 1924, as a result of a fall.

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Last updated: 9/1/98