It all began in 1920 with the arrival of Elda and Leonard Gilcrease and their two sons John Theodore and William Orr. Ted was just a youngster of four and Bill, a baby less than a year old.
Leonard came from a farm family, having been raised at the Gilcrease Ranch in Lemoore, California. He met Elda at the University of Nevada, Reno, where they both graduated with Bachelor’s Degrees. Leonard studied mechanical engineering and Elda studied music, intending to be an educator. But after marrying and starting their young family, they decided to use Elda’s inheritance to purchase over 900 acres in the Las Vegas Valley that included natural artisan springs, known as the Lower Tule Springs, for cultivating crops and raising livestock.