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Las Vegas, city, seat (1862) of San Miguel county, north-central New Mexico, U.S. It lies along the Gallinas River, at an elevation of 6,435 feet (1,961 meters), in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The original settlement (1835) developed as the Mexican port of entry on the Santa Fe Trail. The city was named Nuestra SeƱora de los Dolores de Las Vegas Grandes (Spanish: ā€œOur Lady of the Sorrows of the Great Meadowsā€), its shortened name...