The Divide

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

Background
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 built by the Commonwealth Defense Administration Ballistic Defense Division. The complex was established in a geologically unstable region, where minor earthquakes were common. Military authorities downplayed these problems, confident in the safety of American engineering. Meanwhile, the Army chose the isolated Hopeville as the location for Big MT's weather control research.

By 2077, the region had a large community of political dissidents, including local hippies, who protested the ongoing Sino-American War and the military at construction camps across the region. In an example of "white-hot rage of capitalist justice," the Political Office arranged to have them rounded up and sent to Big MT as test subjects for the company's latest projects, aided by troops from the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment under the command of General Wellesley, military liaison to Big MT.  During the Great War, the nuclear missiles stored in the missile silos were never launched, remaining in their berths for the next two centuries.

Pre-detonation
Although Hopeville and Ashton were abandoned after the war, a small community would inhabit the storm-covered lands. With the harsh weather unleashed on it constantly from the Big MT, those who inhabited the ruins of the Old World in Hopeville and Ashton drew strength and inspiration from the ancient symbols and technology that surrounded them. In the 23rd century, the settlement flourished thanks to a single courier, who was willing to brave the seasons and storms to deliver packages to the community. Whatever the reason, the courier traveled this hard road repeatedly, giving them hope and a connection to the outside.

The community was named the Divide but 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 Courier: "This road leads nowhere. There's nothing in the Divide." Ulysses: "Many in the Mojave think the Divide's nothing but canyon and storm. Wasn't always. There was life, a town, farther West... not talking about an Old World town like Hopeville... more recent. Something you saw in your lifetime. It had the name "the Divide," too. But rather than cracks in the earth, it was a road from the West into the Mojave, a supply line. Took a Courier to make that road. You. Back then, you saw the road with eyes facing East. This time... the Divide's in the other direction. And if your eyes try to make sense of it when you reach it... home's not what it was." The Courier: "If you blame me for what happened here at the Divide - why do you care?" Ulysses: "The community that was once here... and the package you brought... both had markings of the Divide. Markings of America. You've seen the marks, the symbol. As early as the Hopeville silo, maybe. Carried it etched on your weapons. The Divide, its buildings, its people, were built around those same markings, surrounded them here... ...markings like the flag on my back. When I followed your road to the Divide those years ago, I saw the symbol I wore all around me. An Old World symbol. Strong, to survive here - its people, strong. Outlast the Bear, outlast the Bull. Promise of something better. Caesar was right to want it dead. NCR was right to want to rake their claws in it. Seeing it... changed me, just as seeing Hoover Dam changed Caesar and the NCR. Seeing it end changed me, too." (Ulysses' dialogue) The nation that would stir to life here had a chance of bridging the gap between the East and the West, between Caesar's tribes and the republic. Something greater than either, that could unify the two flags into a single banner.

Before that could happen, the New California Republic moved in, following the trail blazed by the Courier. The Divide became a major secondary route into the Mojave, reducing the traffic on the Long 15 to and from the republic's territory. Both the Army and the merchant houses of the republic benefited from the new route established through the storm-wracked region. These routes leading into the Mojave poised a problem for Caesar's strategy, as it gave the NCR a logistical advantage despite the intense campaign of sabotage in the period leading up to the First Battle of Hoover Dam. In the months leading up to the battle, Caesar dispatched a group of frumentarii and assassins to cut the supply line and deny the road to the republic, building on the destruction of New Canaan and raids on caravans out west.

Aftermath
The NCR believed the people who lived among the silos and Old World symbols could help them make sense of the item. After the Courier delivered it, the citizens of the Divide opened it up and the device activated, linking with the launch computers hidden in the dormant silos and sending launch codes and overrides. Warheads started exploding beneath the ground, triggering a massive earthquake that ripped the land open, twisting Ashton, Hopeville, and the military facilities above or beneath. It became an expanse of cracked, blighted landscape, while the sand and ash from the devastation was caught by the artificial storms, turning already savage weather into one, monstrous dust storm.

Those who were not killed by the nuclear detonations or debris let loose by the earthquake were twisted by the radioactive storms, flayed alive and mutated, dead men walking sustained only by the radiation. Regardless of their previous affiliation, these "marked men" banded together into packs, repairing their armor and weapons with whatever the new Divide provided. There was only one survivor, saved from death or marking by the medical robots of the Divide, which mistook the Stars and Stripes on his back for a U.S. military uniform. He walked out of the Divide, whole on the outside, but broken within.

Despite the loss of their task force, the destruction of the Divide was a strategic victory for the Legion. With the land around Hopeville and Ashton destroyed and the sandstorm wreaking havoc on all who tried to pass through, the NCR lost its secondary supply route. The republic could no longer rely on the California State Route 127 north route, circumventing the mountains. Companies sent through were torn apart before they even reached Nevada soil, with Ranger scouts confirming that the route was impassable. Without it, NCR could not march reinforcements into Nevada fast enough to capitalize on their victory at the First Battle of Hoover Dam, giving Caesar the time to retreat to Arizona and prepare his Legion for another confrontation. 

Layout
Located northwest of the Mojave Wasteland near California State Route 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 have devolved into a destroyed, unrecognizable mess of twisted metal, concrete, and detritus, slowly weathered by the massive sandstorm blanketing the entire region. A vast canyon stretches east to west, filled with collapsed buildings, vehicles, and infrastructure from Ashton. The highway network was warped and twisted by the combination of factors, with entire fragments of the elevated superhighway breaking off and crushing buildings below.

Hopeville and adjacent southern military facilities escaped much of the devastation, as missile silos were outside the range of the detonator's transmitter. However, they were subjected to earthquakes and the subsequent storms, with at least one missile bunker listing nearly fifteen degrees due to the shifting foundations. Structural reinforcement and armor ensured the survival of these installations, complete with power infrastructure. Locations throughout the region include:

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's Twitter avatar showed the Divide. He shared his goals with the add-on, revolving around the creation of a Zelazny-style Damnation Alley experience in the Fallout universe.
 * Chris Avellone describes that the package carried by the Courier was from the NCR following their destruction of Navarro.
 * The Divide's location is geographically similar to that of the real world Death Valley, covering the state line of Nevada and California in the Mojave Desert. The real world former town of Ashton, Nevada is located here and the nuclear weapon testing facility, the Nevada Test Site, is located to the northeast.