Arkansas

 is an elderly mad sniper, holed up in Minefield, firing without warning at trespassers. This sniper seems to like to target and blow up the vehicles scattered about the area, causing large explosions and releasing radiation. He is in a three story, mostly destroyed office building at the North end of town. If you hide next to the building itself, on ground level where he can't see you, he'll come downstairs. He has an abundance of .308 ammo, which is Sniper ammo. If killed he will drop a key (the "Ridgefield Gate Key," being the town's real name) that will grant access to all of Minefield's houses.

Arkansas is possibly one of the original surviving residents of Minefield before the slavers invaded--in particular, Gibson House (the house with the bloody hand print on the door). The child's room there is the only room in the town with the same objects as those lying by the bed on the second floor of the office building: crutches, surgical tubing, a medical brace, and cherry bombs. He is also probably the one who set all the mines in the first place. He may also be the cause of many wastelander's beliefs that Minefield is haunted.

He is also one of the targets for enslavement that Eulogy put a special bounty on.

Appearances
 only appears in Fallout 3.

Corpse Loot

 * Sniper Rifle
 * .308 Caliber Round (3)
 * In case you want a presumably infinite amount of Sniper Rifles, you can exploit Arkansas to spawn them for you. Just sneak along the cliff towards his sniper place and engage him in close combat. Use a 10mm pistol or something similar with low damage and shoot his arm(s). He'll drop the rifle as any crippled arm will cause an enemy to drop the currently equipped weapon. Quickly pick up the rifle and leave the place (you'll have to run away). He'll try to chase you with his baseball bat. Make sure you clear the house basement and your path in and out of all mines, since they might kill Arkansas. If you manage to get far enough to fast travel, got to Megaton or wherever. Return to the place later (don't fast travel to Minefield). Arkansas will have another sniper rifle and be completely recovered - so you can loot him this way over and over again.

Related Quests
Strictly Business



Behind the Scenes
The name Arkansas may be a reference to the National Guard Sniper School at Camp Robinson in Arkansas, or a nod to legendary Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock from Arkansas. It may also be a reference to a sniper nicknamed "Arkansas" who served under the military adventurer William Walker in his attempt to control Nicaragua (as detailed in the book "Tycoon's War", by Stephen Dando-Collins).

Bugs

 * If one is to kill Arkansas, there's a chance that this will register with the Strictly Business quest as being captured.