Salvagers The Salvagers are a group of former prisoners from the New California Republic on a special work release program in Denver , salvaging things of value for the NCR in exchange for their eventual freedom . Background . All of the current salvagers were prisoners back in the NCR , and some even have connections with the powder gangers . Most of them were in prison , because they conducted a large raid on an NCR bank , primarily to seize their payroll . The raid was a failure and all the money was somehow destroyed , which only helped to further the destabilization of the eastern part of the NCR . This raid was lead by Porter , who still feels bad about the role he played in the NCR ' s problems . The soon - to - be salvagers were jailed at the Black Canyon facility . During those years in prison , several members of Porter ' s gang escaped on different occasions , but they didn ' t have anywhere to go , so they always got captured or just surrendered . After two years of escapes and imprisonment , Porter ' s group is put on work - release . This serves two purposes for the NCR : it frees up the overcrowded prison for more dangerous criminals , and the potential for supplies from Denver . Porter and his men spend a year traveling , dealing with tribals , slavers , raiders , and monsters , before finally reaching Denver . Only about half of the original group survived the trip . They set up camp , and set about establishing their goals of scavenging as many building supplies as possible , establishing a track outpost , and paving the way for NCR occupation . Life and problems in Denver . The scavengers in Denver are like a tribe of blue - collar workers , working up to 60 hours a week for little or no reward , desperately trying to crank out a life for themselves and their families back West . It is a blue - collar colony , and everything in the their camp reinforces this , including the bus that takes them to and from their claims . There are only 2 or 3 really good mechanics , and the rest are just good builders , scavengers , demolishers , and laborers . There may not be a good electrician among them ( except for Wagner , who isn ' t very good , and Uncle Jim ) . They are not really skilled , most of them are just laborers , so they do not have the opportunity to go anywhere else and make a living for themselves . Also , the salvagers have been in Denver for more than two years and have financial investment in what their achievements and progress . To leave now means throwing away two years of their lives and two years of work . In addition to their other problems , the salvagers have two splits in the group : " traitors " , who want to abandon Denver for different reasons , led by Hardin and an " evil " group of former raiders , led by Anton . If all this isn ' t enough , Denver has been overrun by large packs of savage dogs , and a small group from Caesar ' s Legion , along with their slaves , is trapped in Denver by storms . Interactions with the player character . What happened at the old campsite ? " Well , one moment , we ' d just gotten off our shifts , when suddenly , there were dogs all over the 25 tier of the campsite . They were fucking insane - we must have shot dozens of them , but they didn ' t stop to tear up their own dead , like they usually do . So we had to ditch the crane and the generator . We lost one of our crew getting out Dogbody , figure he ' s dog food , and a bunch of us took some nasty wounds - Jimmy patched us up . Thing is , even after we fled , they kept coming , and coming , some of them even jumped off the freeway to get after us , and they ain ' t never been that rabid . We lit the tires on fire , threw grenades , and nothing fucking scared them off . Now , we ' re just holed up here . " What do you know about Boulder ? " We didn ' t even know there was anyone at Boulder until a couple of months back , when Jimmy T came rolling and was dumped off by Galenski . No idea what he done up there . Galenski told us that we wouldn ' t be welcome in Boulder . Boulder claims it ' s a genetic free zone , and the people there are really antsy about anyone who ' s been spending time in Denver . . . says we ’ re all diseased . They ' ve agreed to trade with us , but they ' ve threatened to shoot any scavenger who shows up within the borders . . . so for now , we just let things lie . As long as the shipments keep coming , no worries . What do you know about Galenski ? He somehow got a huge truck working , so we ' re able to send him supplies of material north in exchange for some new food , medical supplies , and other shit we need to survive . " The Denver salvagers haven ’ t seen a woman in a very long time , so any females that show up are going to have some trouble . Porter may even assign a guard to watch over the female , maybe Jimmy , since no one in their right mind would fight him , and he might as well not have a dick . If a player is science - oriented , they can help the salvagers get a brewery up and running , and then they ' ll have beer . Talk to " Beans " about this . With a high Speech skill , the player character can inquire about past lives and crimes of the salvagers . Appearances . The Denver Salvagers have not appeared nor are they mentioned in any published game . They were to appear only in " Van Buren " , the canceled " Fallout 3 " by Black Isle Studios . It is not certain if they will appear in any future " Fallout " game .