Rattletail

Rattletail was a village located somewhere in Baja.

Background
It was founded by New California Republic settlers who had moved into Baja, sometime between 2256 and 2261. According to Hanlon, the village was nothing more than six shacks built around a well. Hanlon was sent with six other NCR Rangers to investigate reports of raider attacks on the settlement. It took the Rangers about a week to get there, with one dying from a night stalker attack and another nearly dying from dehydration.

When the Rangers did arrive, they discovered five men with .308 rifles defending the village and over 24 dead bodies behind a dune nearby. While investigating the bodies, Hanlon discovered that the people the villagers had killed were not heavily armed raiders but simply locals trying to access the water in the town's well.

Seeing that the settlers of Rattletail seemed resolved to defend their well to the death, Hanlon created a story about a group of 100 raiders poised to attack the village in order to get them to leave. He also said that the raiders had already killed ten of his Rangers. This convinced the villagers to return back to NCR territory. The former residents of Rattletail resettled in Anza-Borrego, in pre-War Southern California, and subsequently found success raising bighorners. The Courier: "There must be something good the rangers have done that you're proud of." Hanlon: "[SUCCEEDED] It's kind of a long one, but all right. About twenty, twenty-five years ago, a group of NCR settlers pushed way south into Baja. I guess it doesn't seem so far now if you look at a map, but back then, they were out a ways. They built this little shanty town around a well in the middle of nowhere. Called it Rattletail." The Courier: "[Continue]" Hanlon: "Word got back to one of our stations that raiders had been attacking the place. I went out with six rangers. We must have been on the trail for a week before we got to Rattletail. We lost one woman to Night Stalkers and another almost died of dehydration. When we reach the place, it's six shacks set up around an old well." The Courier: "[Continue]" Hanlon: ''"There's over two dozen bodies lying in the dunes way outside of town and five men with .308 rifles crouched behind sand bags. And these bodies, these people out in the sand, they aren't raiders. Aren't even heavily armed. They're just people who were trying to get to the only well in fifty miles. I didn't have to talk to the men to see that they did not care one bit." The Courier: "[Continue]" Hanlon: "They had planted an NCR flag over the well and they would not budge until every last one of them was laid out, dead and cold. So I walked up and told them there was a group of raiders coming, one hundred strong. I made up some cockamamie name for them and everything. The men looked at each other, looked at us, and asked me what we were going to do about it." The Courier: "[Continue]" Hanlon: "I told him we would take them back into NCR territory because we had already lost ten rangers on the way out. Ten rangers, five men with .308 rifles. Well, that was enough for them. They packed up what they could and we took them back north. Last I heard, they settled somewhere in Anza-Borrego. Raised Bighorners. Had some tough times, but it worked out okay for them. So there you go. That's my one bit of good."'' (Hanlon's dialogue)

Appearances
Rattletail is mentioned only in Fallout: New Vegas.