
Two additional entrances are opened during the New California Republic assault at the end of the Powder Gangers' questline. Unlike other items in his inventory, pickpocketing the key will never fail as long as the player character is hidden. It is possible to pickpocket the key from him to avoid the fee. He can unlock the door for a price of 100 caps. However, he will continue in casual dialogue as long as one has a good reputation with the gang. Should the player character approach Dawes in disguise, he will notice that they are not an actual Powder Ganger and tell them so. Whether or not the Courier has provoked Powder Gangers elsewhere, the Powder Gangers here are not hostile unless the player character has established a negative reputation with the faction overall. Snipers form an effective perimeter around the facility. The prison has one main entrance, which is guarded by a Powder Ganger named Dawes. Some embarked further south to cause mayhem along the Interstate 15. The prisoner population dispersed, with some following Cooke into Vault 19, and others staying with Eddie as Powder Gangers, and established camps around the correction facility.

Blasting their way out of the cellblock, they quickly overwhelmed what little NCR personnel was present at the site, killed the warden, and established their own rule. Under the lead of Samuel Cooke, a small group of inmates gathered weapons and explosives before rebelling against the NCR staffing the facility. Given the fact that the convicts working on the railroads were provided with high explosives in their work and were predominantly violent criminals jailed for serious crimes, this created ripe conditions for a prison break. However, as the war with the Legion escalated, more and more prison guards were redeployed to the Colorado River despite the warden's objections. The inmates were tasked with maintaining a railroad alongside the Long 15 under military supervision, keeping the vital link between the Boneyard and New Vegas alive. When the NCR occupied the Mojave, it was commandeered to house prisoners on a work-release program. īefore the Great War, the NCR Correctional Facility was the Jean Conservancy, a low-security all-female state prison. This led to deathclaws settling into the quarry and plaguing the northern reaches of Long 15, shutting down caravan traffic to New Vegas. Their biggest raid occurred on Sloan, where they stole an entire cache of dynamite used by the workers to mine Quarry Junction.

The Powder Gangers became a scourge on the inhabitants of the region, attacking caravans along Interstate 15 and stealing supplies from settlers and workers. Once a high-security prison of the Republic, the facility became a fortified stronghold of the Powder Gangers, monitored by Brotherhood and NCR scouts alike.
