Moapa Valley, Nevada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moapa Valley is a valley and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The valley is about 40 miles long and lies roughly northwest to southeast. The Muddy River, formerly called the Moapa River, originates from warm artesian springs and flows through the valley before emptying into Lake Mead. The towns of Moapa, Logandale and Overton are located in the valley. Logandale is about 12 miles southeast of Moapa and Overton is about 5 miles southeast of Logandale. The population of the census-designated place, which does not include Moapa, was 5,784 at the 2000 census, and was estimated to be 6,984 in 2006.
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[edit] History
The Moapa Valley was originally settled by the Anasazi people around 350 B.C. Around 500 A.D., farming supplanted hunting as the major food source for the people known as "Basketmakers". It was also around this time that the art of pottery was introduced. By 600 A.D. the people, now known as "Puebloans", began building their dwellings above ground, using wood and brush plastered with Adobe. Farming was a well-established practice with corn, beans, squash, and cotton being the primary crops. The Puebloans also hunted Mule deer, desert big horn sheep, rabbits, and rodents using the bow and arrow.
Around 1000 A.D. Southern Paiutes moved into the Moapa Valley area. The Paiutes were hunter-gatherers who did not utilize agriculture as a primary source of subsistence. They lived in temporary brush dwellings and practiced a style of pottery that was inferior to the methods used by the Anasazi. The Paiutes and Anasazi people coexisted with little effort in the valley.
Sometime around 1150 A.D., the Anasazi abandoned Moapa Valley possibly due to a drought which gripped the Desert Southwest during that time. When the first European settlers arrived, the Paiutes were relocated to a reservation north of Moapa where they continue to live today.
[edit] Moapa Valley High School
The town high school which was opened in 1905 and ever since has been known as one of the powerhouses in Nevada in athletics, extracurricular activities, and academics. Moapa Valley High School has won 67 athletic state championships including a state record thirteen straight in varsity girls volleyball. The football team has won thirteen state championships and has had many students go on to play college football including Andy Stokes, Aaron Attig, Zach Davis, and Mike Davis. Andy Stokes played in the NFL for the New England Patriots. The boys basketball team qualified a record eight straight times for the state championship game and won two. Former players Freddy Ortega and Brannon Batchelor were both recruited for BYU. The girls programs, have had several athletes go on to college including Kim Ortega and Jordan Adams, who played for the University of New Mexico and the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. Moapa Valley ranks No. 1 on the all-time count for state championships. Throughout the 1990s, Moapa Valley High School had a dominance in all sports which was hard to compete against. The question at games was not whether we were going to win but how much were we going to win by. This mentality, led by the student body, turned Moapa Valley into a perpetual winning machine. Moapa Valley adopted the song "We Are The Champions" in the 1990s.
In 2006, the Pirate football team won the Southern 3A League title, and was runner-up to Virgin Valley in the state championship. Sophomore TB Brad Weiss amassed over 1000 yards and was the Southern League Offensive MVP. The boys varsity basketball team of 2006-2007 experienced a transition year going with the younger players. Most notable of these is up and coming junior star Bobby Vallet, who was also the leading scorer and MVP. Vallet was once asked in an interview after defeating Virgin Valley, why he took so many threes. He responded with, "Because there aren't any fours." While Vallet shot a large percentage of threes he was also the only one on the team who could come close to dunking. Although he never did in a game. The boys tennis team is known for excellence and under the guidance of coach Travis Griffiths, the boys have won four Nevada 4A Northeast division titles in the past 10 years, despite being one of only two 3A teams (The other being Boulder City) to compete in Nevada 4A athletics. Their team greatly benefited in the 2007 season from the likes of Travis Rust and Jace Davis, who went farther in the individual tournament than anyone ever has from Moapa Valley. The school has won 25 academic state championships through all sports they compete in.
The school is known as one of the finest in terms of extracurricular programs. The ProStart team under Ms. Mary Bullock has won many state championships and gone to nationals many times. The varsity quiz team under Ms. Maggie Genseal has qualified for many county championships and playoff runs. The forensics team under Mr. Harold "Tus" Tusler has won a state championship and has many fine competitors such as Braden Cox, Chris Wallace, and Allaina Salazar who qualified for the NFL National Tournament in 2006. Members of the team stack up against speakers from all over the country and have competed well and won when up against speakers from all over the country. The team will be led next year by a group consisting of several all-star speakers including Katie Allum, Sarah Burke and Jonathan Oglesby. The team won the Small School Southern League Championship which solidifies their position as the team to beat in small-school Nevada forensics. The team again took state in 2007 at Arbor View High School which solidifies their claim as the first small school Nevada forensics dynasty winning state championships back to back.
Moapa Valley is well known for one of the best pep bands in the state. The band, under the direction of Ms. Kim Delgadillo, in 2003 was voted the finest pep band in the state by Nevada Magazine. The band received three superior ratings and qualified five kids to the Clark County School District honor band. They were also selected to be the official band of the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. The Pirate motion dance team was selected by the NIAA to perform at the Las Vegas Bowl. The cheerleading team won the academic and regular NIAA state championship in 2005. The Pirate Motion Dance Team won the 3A State Championship in 2007.
[edit] Geography
Moapa Valley is located at (36.574536, -114.457940).GR1
Has an elevation on 1,265 ft. above sea level.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 113.2 km² (43.7 mi²). 112.8 km² (43.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.30%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 5,784 people, 1,934 households, and 1,525 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 51.3/km² (132.7/mi²). There were 2,213 housing units at an average density of 19.6/km² (50.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 92.41% White, 0.24% African American, 0.66% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.36% Pacific Islander, 4.34% from other races, and 1.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.09% of the population.
There were 1,934 households out of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.8% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.1% were non-families. 17.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.43.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 33.5% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 101.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $39,942, and the median income for a family was $47,575. Males had a median income of $42,348 versus $26,442 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $16,696. About 5.7% of families and 6.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.3% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] References
- Olson, Kathryne & Pat Olson. (1985). Nevada's Lost City: A Treasure Trove of Mystery. The Nevada Humanities Committee.
- UNLV - Anthropology Department
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce
- The Lost City Museum
