El Rancho – First on the Las Vegas Strip in 1941

Thomas Hull built the El Rancho in Las Vegas as part of his chain of “El Rancho” hotels in Gallup, New Mexico, and Fresno and Sacramento, California. The 63-cabin resort was designed as a way-station, a break for families to enjoy on their trip through Nevada, featuring amenities like a large pool and horseback riding stables, highlighting its role in 1940s Nevada tourism.

Still, it opened on April 3, 1941, with a small casino. The property was inviting, with a white split-rail fence along the frontage and a large sign spanning the driveway entrance. The El Rancho had it all: a large pool, a neon-lit windmill atop the main entrance, horseback riding stables, and lodging.

Each cabin had a personal parking area, a porch, and a patch of green lawn carefully maintained by gardeners.  Many cabins had kitchens so that guests could cook meals, or they could eat in the Chuck Wagon buffet in the center of the property.

The casino, initially smaller than those in downtown Las Vegas, included blackjack, roulette, and craps, plus seventy slot machines. Over time, it expanded its offerings, attracting guests to the Opera House for performances by comedians like Joe E. Brown and Milton Berle, reflecting its growing entertainment significance.

Hollywood Legends in Las Vegas

Clark Gable, a Hollywood icon, was often seen at the 91 Club up the street while establishing Nevada residency and awaiting his divorce in 1939. His brief stay at the El Rancho in 1942, following the tragic loss of his wife, Carole Lombard, adds a layer of historical intrigue, fostering admiration and emotional connection in the audience.

Although the property was successful, Hull sold his stake in 1943, resulting in new ownership by Hilton-Brown.  In 1944, Wilbur Clark arrived from Reno, and the property soon came under mob influence, including a name change to El Rancho Vegas, highlighting the era’s complex ownership and influence.

Fronting for the Mob, Clark changed the property’s name to the El Rancho Vegas.  By that time, the hotel industry was increasingly influenced by organized crime, with the Hotel Last Frontier joining the El Rancho along the highway to Los Angeles on October 12th, 1942.  The property retained its name until it was renamed the New Frontier in 1955, illustrating the era’s complex ownership landscape.

The casino did very well, and Clark’s partners in Cleveland (Moe Dalitz and company) agreed to help bankroll a new club for him.  That move, the building of the Desert Inn, allowed Sanford Adler to move up to the “owner’s position” at the El Rancho Vegas before his ill-fated year at the Flamingo, and his banishment from Las Vegas.

Next, Jake Katleman purchased a controlling interest in the property (and leased out the casino operations to some folks from Back East). When Jake passed away in 1947, Beldon Katleman took over at age 31. He obtained loans, bought out the other family’s interests, and refurbished the resort for nearly a million dollars. At the time, the expansion made the casino the largest in Las Vegas.

During the 1950s, entertainers did big shows at the El Rancho, but the competition from new properties like the Sahara, Sands, Dunes, and Desert Inn took away a chunk of the weekend business. Katleman kept interest in the property alive by switching to more provocative acts, such as strippers Candy Barr and Lili St. Cyr. However, as the resort prospered, his casino malfunctioned under Mob control, and Chicago Outfit henchman Marshall Caifano.

In early June 1960, Katleman had Caifano removed after a heated argument over benefits such as free lodging and the company of showgirls. On June 17, Caifano secretly entered the showroom’s backstage, starting a fire that rapidly engulfed the property, creating a dramatic scene of destruction that drew flames visible across downtown casinos.

The property was destroyed and never rebuilt. It took a while, but Caifano was eventually the first person listed in Nevada’s Black Book, permanently barred from entering any Nevada casino. He wasn’t happy.

Ten years later, Howard Hughes bought the property before slipping out of his Desert Inn penthouse early one morning and catching a jet to the Bahamas.  The property remained vacant for years when Bill Bennett of Circus Circus purchased it. In 1982, the once-Mob-controlled Thunderbird Hotel changed its name to the El Rancho Casino after operating as the Silverbird from 1977 to 1981. That El Rancho property closed in 1992.