The History of Nevada as a state began when it became the 36th state on October 31, , after telegraphing the Constitution of Nevada to the Congress days before the November 8 presidential election the largest and costliest transmission ever by telegraph. Statehood was rushed to help ensure three electoral votes for Abraham Lincoln 's reelection and add to the Republican congressional majorities. Nevada's harsh but rich environment shaped its history and culture.
Before small Mormon settlements existed along the border of Utah , with the western part stumbling along until the great silver strikes beginning in created boom towns and fabulous fortunes.
After the beginning of the 20th century, profits declined while progressive reformers sought to curb capitalism. They imagined a civilized Nevada of universities, lofty idealism, and social reform. But an economic bust during the s and disillusionment from failures at social reform and a population decline of nearly one-fourth meant that by Nevada had degenerated into a "beautiful desert of buried hopes.
Geologic events formed the state's Basin and Range topography, the " Nevada Basin " physiographic region, [6] and the central Nevada desert e. During the Late Precambrian , eastern and southern Nevada was being gradually covered by a shallow sea , which continued to expand into the state through the Devonian. More than kinds of Paleozoic invertebrates are known to have inhabited Nevada during the Cambrian , Devonian, and Carboniferous periods of the Paleozoic era.
Dropping sea levels exposed regions of Nevada as dry land, contributing to the formation of environments in eastern Nevada such as lagoons and beaches. Nevada's sea level continued to drop during the Triassic period, but the western part of the state was still relatively deep.
