Did a Mexican make Las Vegas?

Answer 1

I am not sure what you mean by "make." If you mean to inhabit or live there, the original residents of Las Vegas were Native Americans (back then called Indians). But the territory was later visited by explorers from both the United States and Mexico. The government of Mexico believed its explorers had gotten there first-- Raphael Rivera gave the city its name (which means "the meadows" in Spanish) in 1829. But the U.S. government disagreed, noting that an American expedition first arrived in the region in 1827, led by Jedediah Smith. And another expedition, led by John C. Fremont in 1844, was so successful that many American pioneers decided to move there.