Henderson subdivision takes its names from the Wild West

The Wild West is still alive, at least in street names in the Black Mountain Ranch subdivision near College Drive and U.S. Highway 95.

The American West , often called the Wild West , was a period that lasted from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s.

Even though the names might give homage to Wild West themes, Henderson never would have been part of the Old West, according to Mark Hall-Patton, administrator with the Clark County Museum.

"We had the first settlement in (Clark County in) 1905," Hall-Patton said. "The Old West was certainly gone by then."

The neighborhood retains its tribute with names such as Gunman Way, Silver Stirrup Court, Wild West Drive and Open Plains Way.

"There are a couple oddball names in there that sound moreso out of California or Texas," Hall-Patton said.

There is even a Calamity Jane Lane, named after American frontier woman Martha Jane Cannary, although Hall-Patton said she never set foot in Clark County.

Hall-Patton said that trend is seen in other parts of Henderson , too, which has streets named after other western characters such as Annie Oakley or Butch Cassidy.

"They have no ties to Las Vegas," Hall-Patton said.

But what is the image of the Old West without the image of cowboys versus Native Americans, captured in the neighborhood across from Black Mountain Ranch.

Hall-Patton said the neighborhood has "pseudo Indian names" such as Shining Arrows Street and Singing Drum Way or White Thunder Street.

Hall-Patton thinks that what might have inspired the theme is Arrowhead Trail, a cross street at the entrance of the subdivisions.

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 387-5201.