From proprietor of the Mobley Hotel in a dusty Texas oil town to the world's premier statesman of international hospitality, Conrad Hilton's spectacular rise helped rewrite the boundless opportunity of the American Dream.

Here, in his own words, Conrad Hilton recounts the challenges and triumphs of a life brimming with adventure, celebrity, big business and unforgettable moments.

Selected Photos & Excerpts:

"To accomplish big things I am convinced you must first dream big dreams.  True, it must be in line with progress, human and divine, or you are wasting your prayer.  It has to be backed by work and faith, or it has no hands and feet.  Maybe there's even an element of luck mixed in. But I am sure now that, without this master plan, you have nothing.

My own dreams were smaller than some - bigger than others. Some had flaws in them and fell apart before they could take form.  Others were misguided; the energy behind them had to be redirected according to a sounder plan, and all is part of this story.

I made buying trips with Father which were an experience in themselves.  It was not all business.  Father had a method of spreading good will, a habit of appropriating bits of verse or words of wisdom that appealed to him, having them printed on brightly colored cards with his name on the bottom and leaving a trail of them in his wake as he made his rounds of the Territory.   He would go fifteen or twenty miles out of his way to present his latest card to an old Mexican who spoke no English, or to an Indian scout who couldn't read, or to get the approval of Father Pelzer at San Marcia.  He would recite them aloud to me in sonorous voice as we lurched and rolled over the rutted trails and I strongly suspect when I was not along he recited them with equal relish to the prairie dogs and vultures.

I was twenty-three years old.  I had been working for eleven years.  So far I had earned a partnership in a store in the town in which I was born.  But it was my father's store.  A.H. Hilton & son.  A.H. Hilton & Shadow? a small voice within me was questioning.  Wasn't it time I formulated a dream of my own? I had an idea... Be Big: Think Big. Act Big. Dream Big.

Hillsborough Road parade led by veterans. Col. Gus Hilton, officer of the day, on foot to left of the parade.

It has been my experience that the way most people court failure is by misjudging their abilities, belittling their worth and value.  Did you ever think what can happen to a plain bar of iron, worth about $5.00?  The same iron when made into horseshoes is worth $10.50,  If made into needles, it is worth $3,250.85, and if turned into balance springs for watches its value jumps to $250,000.