Senator William Clark of Montana, also known as the King of Copper for his successful Montana mines in the late 19th century, was a visionary investor who brought the railroad from southern California to the springs of what is now Las Vegas, in the otherwise impassable Mojave dessert. He succeeded in connecting the north and south rails in the west, creating Las Vegas, then called Clark's Township, in 1904.
Clark bet that the water in the valley that Explorer John C. Fremont had mapped as Las Vegas would sustain the railroad. Clark County, home to Las Vegas, is named for him. His success was legendary. His fortune, magnificent.
His youngest daughter, the sole surviving heir, is 104 years old, one of the wealthiest women in America, and a complete mystery.
