Literary Las Vegas: Erin Elizabeth Eichenber

Local author Erin Elizabeth Eichenber's "Lake Mead," a book in the Images of America series, explores life before the lake, starting with studies of the area's cultural and natural history. Eichenber shares photos from sites such as St. Thomas, a town that would be engulfed by the reservoir's rising waters, and introduces readers to explorers who piloted rafts, steamboats and barges down the Colorado River before it was tamed.

Excerpt:

Once Lake Mead was full, the area was readily accessible to tourism. Visitors came in droves to see the new dam and cool off in Lake Mead. The US Bureau of Reclamation soon realized that such a large recreation area would require it to coordinate the park's cultural and natural resources with the leisure pursuits of the public. It turned to the National Park Service to help manage the recreation area encompassing the lake. The National Park Service assumed joint management duties of the Boulder Dam Recreation Area on October 13, 1936. The National Park Service continued to co-manage activities at the lake until 1967, when Pres. Lyndon Johnson officially established the park unit as Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Thereafter, the site became the first national recreation area in the National Park Service.