The Divide

The Divide is a common term for a stretch of devastated land in the northwestern Mojave Wasteland in 2281. It is located near the Nevada/California border, with Big MT situated to the south. It is the setting of Lonesome Road.

Pre-War
Before its destruction, the region consisted of two towns, Hopeville and Ashton. The two towns were situated above an extensive network of nuclear missile silos managed by the Commonwealth Defense Administration Ballistic Defense Division. The complex was established in a geologically unstable region, where earthquakes occur. Meanwhile, the Army chose the Hopeville as the location for Big MT's weather control research.

The region had a contingent of political dissidents who protested the ongoing Resource Wars. The Political Office arranged to have General Wellesley, military liaison to Big MT, arrest them and ship them to the research complex. During the Great War, the nuclear missiles stored in the missile silos were not launched.

Post-War
After the war, the settlements grew in part by the efforts of a courier who was willing to deliver packages to the community. The courier traveled the road repeatedly, giving those who lived there a connection to the outside. The community was named the Divide, not as a reference to the land formations, but as a description of the road from the west into the Mojave which served as a supply line.

The New California Republic traveled through the area, one of two land routes used to supply those stationed in the Mojave. Caesar attempted to cut the supply line in order to deny the ability for the NCR to bring supplies to the Mojave. Before the first Battle of Hoover Dam, one of the packages delivered by the courier contained a detonator that activated the bombs underground. This triggered an earthquake that ripped the land open and resulted in ongoing dust storms. Members of both the Legion and the NCR were killed or maimed, turned into "Marked Men" who are devoid of skin and healed by radiation. Ulysses was the only survivor, saved by the machines in the area who saw the flag on his jacket and associated it with America.

The destruction of the Divide was a benefit to the Legion, who could have suffered more losses at the Hoover Dam if the NCR was able to utilize the route during the conflict. In addition, the NCR was no longer about to rely on the 127 north route to reinforce the Mojave and the dam. 

Layout
Located northwest of the Mojave Wasteland near the 127, the Divide is a region that was once the home of Hopeville, a community built around and over a ballistic missile silo complex, and Ashton, a city that was situated at a major highway junction. After the detonations, both towns were destroyed and are blanketed in constant dust storms.

Appearances
The Divide appears in the add-on Lonesome Road and on a map in Old World Blues. It is also mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas and the add-ons: Dead Money, Honest Hearts, and Old World Blues.

Behind the scenes

 * Before the release of Lonesome Road, Chris Avellone shared his goals with the design of the Divide, the limitations the team faced, and relationship to the story lines of the other add-ons.
 * Chris Avellone describes that the package carried by the Courier was from the NCR following their destruction of Navarro.
 * The real world former town of Ashton, Nevada is located near Death Valley and the California/Nevada state line.