The history of St. Thomas, Nevada, the remains of which today lie under the high-water mark of Lake Mead, begins in 1865 with Mormon missionaries sent by Brigham Young to the Moapa Valley to grow cotton. Touching as it does upon early explorers, Mormons, criminals, railroad and auto transportation, mining, water, state and federal relations, and more, St. Thomas, Nevada offers much to Mormon and regional historians, as well as general readers of western history.

Aaron McArthur was born in Polson, Montana, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has been a project historian for the National Park Service and is currently the Public History Program Director at Arkansas Tech University. He has published several previous articles on Mormon history.