Why were settlements started in places like Vegas and Pheonix if they weren’t connected to a river that connected to the ocean like the Mississippi River for trade and had no viable farmland?

Question

Why were settlements started in places like Vegas and Pheonix if they weren’t connected to a river that connected to the ocean like the Mississippi River for trade and had no viable farmland?

In: 4650

Answer 1

I live in Vegas and we have Lake Mead, which is man-made but fed from the Colorado River. We also have snowy mountains on the north side that melts and fills our reserves