The Divide The Divide is a violent land torn apart by quakes and skin - flaying wind storms to the northwest of the Mojave Wasteland . It serves as the game - world for " Lonesome Road " . Background . Before the Great War , this area was home to Hopeville and Ashton : a missile base and a large city located in the Mojave Desert in Southern California . Apart from being a major element of the ballistic defense matrix , Hopeville was also the subject of a major Big MT research project concerning meteorology ; a project that apparently ended in a disaster , spawning the dust storms the Divide is infamous for . Besides the project , Big MT was also a partner in different enterprises : at one point , the entire local hippie commune that protested outside Hopeville against the ongoing Sino - American War were rounded up by special riot control officers , wearing a new model of L . A . P . D . riot armor , and shipped them off to Big MT as test subjects . The whole incident was regulated by the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment who notably wore a recognizable helmet and a more advanced riot armor . The Great War apparently surprised the soldiers , as the ICBMs there never left their missile silos . A silence fell across the land . For two centuries the soil of the Divide lay undisturbed by human presence . However , eventually , a small survivalist community established itself in the area . Kept alive by couriers , it prospered , and more settlers moved into the new city . It prospered enough in fact , to draw the attention of the New California Republic , who began to annex it swiftly for a newly established supply line across the treacherous Divide into the Mojave Wasteland . These actions drew the attention of Caesar ' s Legion , which , in its bid to take the Mojave , attempted to cut the new supply line ( the Long 15 and New Canaan were the two first ) , sending frumentarii and assassins to explore the area after a sizeable force of legionaries struck against the Republic ' s forces located there . But this war did not destroy the settlement . That was the work of the Courier , who , returning to the Divide again , carried a package from Navarro by order of the NCR containing the activated ICBM detonator to the Divide , a short time before the NCR and the Legion jumped to each other ' s throat . When this device was close enough , it remote linked with the ICBM computers , sending a signal to the dormant nuclear missiles lying in the silos beneath the ground . They then began detonating one after another , splitting the earth , cracking and twisting the landscape , causing massive earthquakes . Entire companies of NCR soldiers in the Divide were trapped together with their Legion foes . The disaster created the Divide as it exists now : a wind - beaten maze of twisting canyons , skin - flaying dust storms , and horrific abominations . The Divide twisted the surviving NCR and Legion . As the winds flayed their skin and radiation ghoulified them , they became the marked men ; skinless horrors fueled by hatred and rage for everything around them . Outside the Divide , the disaster became a blessing in disguise for the Legion : cutting off NCR supply lines along Death Valley Road and the Carson Pass Highway , it granted Caesar ' s Legion time to recover after their loss in the First Battle of Hoover Dam . However , it also gave birth to the greatest danger to the post - War civilization of the American Southwest : Ulysses . The Divide disaster both traumatized and inspired him as he learned the impact a single person , in this case the Courier , can have on history . At some point after the Divide disaster , the NCR sent an expeditionary force into the Divide . However , they severely underestimated the danger of the Divide and were met with heavy resistance . In the end , the expeditionary force was nearly wiped out by the Divide ' s many threats . While there , they encountered a large group of Legion forces , and it can be assumed that they were there for the same reason . When ED - E passed through the Divide , computers remote scanned it then proceeded to make copies of it for maintenance purposes . Ulysses may have inserted the package into one in particular . Ulysses was determined to take revenge and sought to reshape the post - apocalyptic world singlehandedly , much like the Courier reshaped the Divide by unleashing nuclear fire on it . At some point before the Second Battle of Hoover Dam , Ulysses contacts the Courier via a single message : the coordinates for the canyon wreckage west of Primm , and the words " Courier Six - Ulysses " , wanting to destroy their new home in his reshaping process of America before their eyes , as the Courier did for him with the Divide . The Courier answered the call and confronted Ulysses at the Divide . There , under the Old World flag and the torn skies , the two decided the fate of southwest post - War America . Layout . The remains of a decent sized city has rendered large portions of the Divide inhospitable , thick with traps and enemies . Care should be taken when navigating these areas as players can be caught off guard . A large amount of wreckage and rubble from the military base is present early on but thins out as the player progresses . The highway is crumbled and destitute with many sections collapsed making anything more than linear exploration impossible ; buildings half buried in ash and sand making the land seem dead and desolate . The northern area is utter chaos ; the ground torn apart as if an open wound . The area is also swarming with marked men and deathclaws hiding in the ruins of the city . The Divide also contains multiple undetonated warheads throughout , which the player can manipulate during game - play . Appearances . The Divide only appears in the add - on " Lonesome Road " and as a map in " Old World Blues " , but the location is mentioned in " " and the : " Dead Money " , " Honest Hearts " , and " Old World Blues " .