Desert Rangers

The Desert Rangers are a group of survivalists and vigilantes who operate primarily in the Nevada area but have also been known to be found in Zion Canyon and Arizona. Formerly independent, in 2271 they agreed to be absorbed into the New California Republic Rangers in exchange for NCR protection in defending southern Nevada against Caesar's Legion.

Background
The Rangers hail from the badlands of Nevada, from survivor communities that survived the nuclear devastation relatively unscathed. They trace their heritage all the way back to the Texas Rangers, who inspired their mission to make the wasteland better, one step at a time. To this end, they learn survival and combat skills before taking to the road to carry out their mission.

For years, the Rangers continued their efforts to protect the people of the wasteland against its hazards, from raiders, through violent tribes (White Legs), to fat freaks trying to control Las Vegas. However, they met their match when they clashed with the Caesar's Legion in Arizona. The war went badly for the Rangers, who found themselves outnumbered by Caesar's armies which held a substantial numerical advantage over them. Despite superior training and equipment, their numbers quickly dwindled, forcing them to call out to the New California Republic for help. The Ranger Unification Treaty was signed in 2271 as a result. In exchange for the NCR's protection of Hoover Dam, New Vegas, and southern Nevada against the forces of the Legion, the Desert Rangers would be absorbed by the New California Republic Rangers. A special monument outside the Mojave Outpost commemorates the signing of the treaty.

Behind the scenes
"Tycho's a nod to the desert rangers of Wasteland. Obviously that "history" didn't wind up in Fallout, so that makes it more of an homage than anything.

Originally, the idea is that he came from east of California, in the Nevada area. His family comes from people who survived the devastation when WAR happened, likely living among the badlands of Nevada. As I envisaged it, Tycho learned a lot about desert survival and whatnot from his small community, which kept a strong survivalist contingent -- so they still had some small arms and books. They probably had something like the cliff-dwelling Indians going on for their town, though I never fleshed it out.

Anyway, Tycho took off to wandering the desert with traders and explorers for several years, returning from time to time with goods or maps. Most likely he started with small trips and went further abroad as he became more experienced. He went as far as the Gulf of Mexico in Texas and then headed back west. Eventually he wound up on the west coast as a long-range explorer from a loose group of desert rangers whose actual origins, scope and purpose weren't defined.

In some ways Tycho is reminiscent of master Yuta from "Nausicaa and the Valley of the Winds." He carries a gas mask just in case, wears hardened leather armor, has a knife, knuckles, canteen, all the usual survival gear. I'd pictured him as this guy in leather armor (Fallout-style) with a gas mask hanging around his neck, goggles (to keep out sand and glare), a sand-colored cloak usable for camouflage and to keep the sun off, and a double-barreled shotgun."

- Jess Heinig, Fallout Bible 9


 * The Desert Rangers are a reference to Wasteland, where the player-controlled characters are Rangers seeking to defeat murderous robots in the Nevada/Arizona wasteland.

Appearances
Desert Rangers are mentioned in Fallout by Tycho. It wasn't until Fallout: New Vegas that they became a major part of the lore and the gameplay. An actual suit of Desert Ranger combat armor can be found in Stone Bones Cave in Honest Hearts.

Desert Ranger was also meant to be a playable Advanced Character Class in the abortive Fallout Pen and Paper d20, eventually released by Glutton Creeper Games as Exodus.