Colorado River Republic (1962: The Apocalypse)

Stats
The Colorado River Republic is a democratic, but authoritarian nation that now stretches from the Hoover Dam and the Ruins of Vegas to the Mohave Desert, Lake Havasu City, Lake Mead, Yuma (Arizona), Mohab and the Grand Canyon National Park.

History
The Spanish mined copper on a small scale at Ajo after 1750. After the Gadsden Purchase brought the southern Arizona into the United States in 1853, the mine was reopened in 1855.

Before Doomsday Las Vegas served as one of the cultural epicentres of the United States. Las Vegas was established in 1905 and incorporated as a city in 1911. The city’s main form of economy was tourism, tourists where drawn to the city by its number of casinos, bars and other major attractions. Prostitution was legal in the state of Nevada, and as a result some considered prostitution to be another way to make money and draw tourists. The city of Las Vegas was once a prosperous city in former Nevada. However, it was destroyed on Doomsday.

Before Doomsday, the Hoover Dam was a powerful dam providing power to much of Nevada, California, and Colorado. The Colorado River coincidentally touched these states. The Hoover Dam was visited by millions of people each year, as was the Grand Canyon. Tours down the Colorado river were popular, and the neighbouring Las Vegas was a destination for tourists.

The Dam was constructed in the 1930s to provide power to the surrounding area. Despite the toll of constant storms, commerce over the bridge, and a few earthquakes, the structure remained intact for decades.

The national government did not relinquish control of Boulder City until 1959, when the town was incorporated. Boulder City’s incorporation ceremony took place on January 4, 1960. The city council selected pharmacist Robert N. Broadbent as the town’s first mayor.

The "Reno Arch" was erected on Virginia Street in 1926 to promote the upcoming Transcontinental Highways Exposition of 1927, the arch included the words "Nevada's Transcontinental Highways Exposition" and the dates of the exposition.

Prescott served as capital of Arizona Territory until November 1, 1867, when the capital was moved to Tucson by act of the 4th Arizona Territorial Legislature. The capital was then returned back to Prescott in 1877 by the 9th Arizona Territorial Legislature. The capital was finally moved to Phoenix on February 4, 1889 by the 15th Arizona Territorial Legislature stayed there ever since!

Doomsday
When the first nuclear strikes came in 1962 The region was badly hit. Nellis Air Force Base and Aeria 51 were the locations of major nearby nuclear strikes. Several other strikes also occurred in southern California at- Lancaster-Palmdale, San Bernardino, Camp Pendleton, and Anaheim. L.A., San Fran, Long Beach and San Diago were now a pile of radioactive rubble. There were also a few minor hits in Utah.

The survivors fled west toward the desert interior and along the Colorado River. Some got to San Luis Río Colorado, in Mexico. Along the way the surivors attcked each other and various towns and communities fell during the 1962-64 weather break down and the 1963-67 famine. Both martial law and food rationing started in late 1964.It was total in chaos until the early 1970's.


 * The Soviet and Cuban missile strikes targeted-
 * 1) Phoenix- 5x 1kt (they did not go off) and 1 x10.
 * 2) Gilbert, Arizona- 1x 1kt
 * 3) Luke Air Force Base-1 x10.
 * 4) Lisbon Valley uranium mine- 1x 10kt
 * 5) Marysvale district- 2x 50kt
 * 6) Silver Reef Silver mine 1x 1kt (did not go off and broke up, poisoning the land dirty bomb style)
 * 7) Williams AFB in Chandler-1 x10.
 * 8) Davis-Monahan AFB-1 x10.
 * 9) The missile silos around Tucson, that constitute Arizona's ICBM arsenal- 5x 100kt
 * 10) Fort Huachuca-1 x10 (did not go off).
 * 11) Yuma, Arizona-1 x10 (did not go off).
 * 12) Reno- 1x 10kt
 * 13) The Nevada Test Site- 4x 100kt
 * 14) Fort Irwin National Training Centre- 1x 10kt and 4x 1kt
 * 15) Carson City- 1x 1kt
 * 16) The Vegas Strip- 1x 10kt and 2x 1tkt
 * 17) Davis–Monthan Air Force Base- 1 x 10kt (failed to go off and buried it's self 16ft. in to the ground)
 * 18) Kirtland Air Force Base- It was not targeted by mistake and was thus never hit.
 * 19) Santa Monica- 1x 10kt,
 * 20) Burbank- 1x 10kt (did not go off).
 * 21) Huntington Beach/Costa Mesa- 1x 10kt
 * 22) Pasadena, Inglewood/Torrence- 1x 10kt and 5x 1kt
 * 23) Rancho Cucamonga- 1x 10kt
 * 24) Compton/Downey, and Covina- 1x 10kt
 * 25) Lancaster-Palmdale- 1x 10kt
 * 26) San Bernardino- 1x 10kt
 * 27) Camp Pendleton- 1x 10kt
 * 28) Anaheim- 1x 10kt
 * 29) Yuma, California- 1x 1kt (did't go off)
 * 30) Salt Lake City-1 x10 (did not go off).
 * 31) Marine Corps Air Station-1 x10.
 * 32) Yuma Proving Ground-1 x10.
 * 33) Flagstaff-1 x10 (did not go off).
 * 34) Navajo Army Depot-1 x10 (did not go off)..
 * 35) Nellis Air Force Base-2 x250.
 * 36) Nellis AFB and the Nevada Test & Training Range- 1x 100kt
 * 37) Indian Spring Air Force Auxiliary Field-1 x10.
 * 38) Groom Lake Air Force Facility, also known as Area 51- 4 x250kt.
 * 39) Fallon Naval Air Station (NAS)- 1x 250kt
 * 40) Fallon- 1x 1kt
 * 41) Hawthorne Army Ammunition Plant- 1x 250kt
 * 42) Hawthorne- 1x 1kt
 * 43) The Hoover Dam- 1x 1kt (it missed and hit Lake Mead, where it failed to go off)
 * 44) Northern Las Vagas- 1x 10kt

Post Doomsday


Las Vegas and Carson City were heavily affected by Doomsday. The ruins became heavily radioactive and many survivors died. However, the radioactive fall did not affect the area as much, allowing the area to be habitable. Radiation spread right into the path of Las Vegas and the city was devastated by radiation, with much of North Las Vegas was destroyed by the blast at Nellis AFB. Luckily Las Vegas was not hit as hard as most other U.S. cities after 2 10Kt ICBMs meant for the south of it fell in Lake Mead and failed to go off, so it still had a slim chance of it's outer suburb's survival. The irradiated, starving and terrified towns and local communities banded together in desperate attempt to maintain working forms of local government. In the few weeks after the nuclear catastrophe that destroyed much of human civilization, many people fled, and were never heard from again. Many of the survivors fleed west toward the desert interior and along the Colorado River. Some also successfully got to San Luis Río Colorado, in Mexico. Some Mexican aid reached Arizona, but most was used to house American refugees in Baja California and Sonsora.

The remaining people continued to struggle on Land, barely scraping by. Several makeshift storage facilities where constructed by the ruined cities. Much of the area, being desert, suffered a famine that killed off 20% of the population. Summer where harsh, even with the onset of the nuclear winter and worse in the atomic weather summer event. Many of the makeshift settlements froze to death within the first winter. Food stores managed to hold out, although when the fleet began to run out of fuel it became much harder to replenish. Lack of arable land and weather prevented most farming. These small towns where the only offical forms of government found in the region (other than the illicit organizations of gangs, mafias and raiders). The people would try to survive on what could be found and made. The communities formed alliances with each other. Soon wars soon erupted with spears, bows and arrows, farming tools, swords, knives, axes, clubs and few serving had guns.

Boulder City, Yma (Arizona) and Primm were heavy irradiated and slightly damaged, but managed to escape the worst of it to. They, along with Prescott (Arizona), St. George (Utah) and the Hoover Dam tried to keep order in their neck their neck-of-the-woods and brought in both martial law and food rationing during the November of 1962. The cities, for the most part, calm. A small town government was started in each and disaster relief became a top priority. they would also strggel to cope with both the effects of famin, radiation sickness and tier part of the 500,000-600,000 panick striken refugees escaping from the burnout shell of California! Typhoyed soon ripped troght the refugee camps, killing 44% of them. Many also died in the 1962-64 weather break down and the 1963-67 famine. A minor Earthquake struck shortly after wards in the ruins of Nellis air force base on my 2nd 1963. Both martial law and food rationing started in late 1964. The region was in total chaos until the early 1970's.

Fortunely the Hoover Dam was outside of the major blast radius and radiation did not reach Lake Mead. A single 1kt bomb failed to go off after hitting Lake Mead instead of the dam. However, the workers in Hoover Dam stayed inside for a couple of months, believing that the radiation would affect them if they stayed out for too long. A tour boat on Lake Mead was returning when the bombs hit. The ship became beached near the dam and the passengers went to the nearest location, the Hoover Dam.

Several small bands of tourists, locals and a few Navajo and Hopi Indians held out in the south west of the Grand Canyon to.

Early History
Las Vegas, Area 51 and Nellis AFB were avoided by most. However, some scavengers travelled to the area and most of them died of radiation poisoning. Many of ruined cities had some survivors in them. When the workers and refugees came out of the Dam, they were shocked to find much of the surrounding area unharmed. They began working on planting food along the Colorado River. Geiger Counters reported little to no radiation near the Hoover Dam.

A add-hock joint government was officially established in Boulder City, Yma (Arizona), Primm, Prescott (Arizona) and the Hoover Dam by mid-1964, a relatively early age for larger than city/county area governments to form. The de fact leader was Boulder City cop called Jamie Pfister and his deputy was a vet Primm police oficer, Bill Holden. The bandits, radical Christian pastors and local gun cults were quickly suppressed ith these cities, but not elsewhere.

Due to reduced Colorado River water usage, some arid regions of the watershed, such as the Wyoming’s upper Green River valley in, the Canyonlands National Park, Tucson and the San Pedro River valley in both Arizona and Sonora saw the limited regrowth extensive reaches of grassland and steppe lands by 1970, helpig local agriculture. Regardless of the emerging farming economy, the Republic declined steadly until 1975.

Establishment of the Mojave Republic
However, survivors from Boulder City and Primm were the most prominent. The two cities had a bitter rivalry. In 1969, the two went to war (in which 16 people died), until 1972. Primm and Boulder City were combined under the peace treaty. The city states of Yma (Arizona), Primm, Prescott (Arizona), St. George (Utah) and the Hoover Dam joined in the fledgling union in 1975. They absorbed more territory until 1976, when they declared themselves to be a unified nation called the ‘Mojave Republic’. The nation was named after the Mojave Desert, the region most of the growing nation is located in.

Farming would improve after the early 1970's leading to the end of martial law and food rationing in late 1975. The out-of-bounds Atlas Uranium Mill and the Moab Tailings pond has begun to leak radioactive sludge since 1976.

The Mojave Republic expanded mostly around Vegas and down the Colorado River. Looting Vegas became a crime, punishable by detainment for up to five years. However, this did not discourage many scavengers. In 1979, the republic’s government declared small parts of Vegas to be safe to visit for longer periods of time. The Vegas Strip and the northern section was still out-of-bounds and radioactive, but the outskirts became a popular looting place.

A brief war, in wich 12 died, occered in 1982 between avanced units of the advanceing Salt Lake City Republic and the recently exspanded Colorado River Republic over the ownership of Moab. Salt Lake City gave up the town, but claimed the disputed hinterland to the north.

Fist Contact
The nations of Spokane and Salt Lake City were discovered in 1972, Mississippi was found in 1978 and the Confederation of Carolina was discovered by chance in 1989.

Better fortunes
The ruins of Nellis Air Force Base was briefly re-claimed in 1984 as well, with the few serving guns and bunkers becoming the centre of the Mojave Military.

On January 12th, 1985, the Primm/Boulder City Alliance had become too large for its government. The capitals were swapped every two years between the two cities. They decided to adopt the US constitution and government type. The capital was moved to the Hoover Dam. However, the dam was just, to be used as the capital’s temporary government building. The friendly area around the dam was named Hoover. The nation continued to expand to the north and the north and east. By 1995 most of southern Nevada and parts of Arizona and southern California became the Mojave Republic’s territory.

Race riots
Anti- Hispanic riots and looting broke out in many southern areas of the nation during 1996, killing 17 people and having another 60 arrested.

The mission to the ruins of Las Vegas
As people from other further up river in Grand Canyon, Utah and Colorado communities travelled to the Hoover Dam and Bolder over the years, interest in exploration and reclaiming history mounted. In 1992, an expedition to Vegas brought back playing cards, poker chips, a few licence plates, and posters from casinos. Subsequent expeditions in 1995 and 1996 brought back bigger things, like a slot machine, 6 tables from casinos and even a small safe full of gold bars. The Utah and Grand Canyon communities would be peacefully assimilated between 1994 and 1997.

A new name
The country was renamed the ‘Colorado River Republic’ on January the 8th, 1997, to sound more inclusive to the recently annexed parts of Utah and southern California.

Present day
after 12 years of heated debate gay and lesbian marage was legalised on May 1st, 2007.

The fist 3 couples were


 * Kabelo Montsho
 * Kagiso Morama


 * Amantle Pilar Kilego
 * Stella Maria Lewis


 * Alberto Mario Juantorena
 * Steve Lee Lewis

New Vega town (poulation: 2,500 (2012) was biult between 2008 and 2012. By 2010, all of the Mojave Desert was annexed, plus most of the Colorado River. The land north east of the Grand Canyon is currently being annexed by the nation.

Defence
The ruins of Nellis Air Force Base was briefly re-claimed in 1985 as well, with the few serving guns and bunkers becoming the centre of the nation's Military. The Colorado River Republic‘s 6,550 strong military was drastically improved in 2001, when a group of raiders attacked a city in the Republic. The military became a strong, highly trained desert and mountain warfare order by 2008.

They are trained to fight and adapt to life in the desert. Sandstorms became a battlefield blessing since they can hunker down and sit it out, unlike others, who wish to retreat and leave if it continues to long.

Healthcare
After Doomsday, the Colorado River Republic found it hard to import medicine. The medical supplies shortage resulted in the government making the controversial decision to legalize medical marijuana in 1966. Even though, this choice led to and initial small increases in marijuana smoking and other crimes, the government believes the pros of the medical marijuana act outweigh the cons. This was revoked in 1978, because, in the long term, it had caused a generation of drug addicts to occur.

The Healthcare system is still controlled by the local Mafia who keep the prices relitvley high.

Lung and thyroid cancer rates have fallen sharply since 1995.

Food and water
The Hoover Dam provides fresh water to the Colorado River. Most of the nation is touching the Colorado River or Lake Mead. This is because most of the area that isn't touching a body of water in the area is a desert. Farming would improve after the early 1970's leading to the end of martial law and food rationing in late 1975.

Beer
Prescot's Brewery is a small, independent brewery founded in the town during 2009. It produces the town’s well loved local beer and high proof alco-fuel in small quantises.

Agriculture
Like most other post-Doomsday European nations, most of the economy is weighted towards agricultural production though there is rapidly growing light industrial aspects in urban and mining regions.

Light industry
Boulder City's new Treherbert trading estate was biult out of salvaged parts and Mexican imports in 2009. It consists of 1 small copper mill, a pistol factory, a brick factory, 2 small furniture factories, 7 warehouse, a alco-fule brewery, 12 small wind turbines and a small screw factory twice weekly.

Minor coal and metal ore
The Anaconda Copper Mine in Nevada was reopened in 2009, but several samll, informal, low yeald, copper, lead and coal mines operated in the Kofa Moutains in 1977 and were dotted across the country since 1987.

The nation's copper mining also produces gold, silver, lead, zinc and molybdenum as byproducts. The by-product produced molybdenum from copper mining makes Arizona and Nevada the republic's 1st and 2nd producer of that metal respectivly. More than 80% of the state's silver and 90% of the state's zinc was a byproduct of copper mining.

Most copper and molybdenum ore is exported to Mexico for food and fule.

Transport
Travel is entirely by sailing boat, horse and bicycle, since there are no private motor vehicles. There are only 3 alco-fuel busses and a few dosen alcahol fuled police motorbikes. Horses are still popular in the nation, despite of the short lived, 1995 and 2008 outbreaks of equine ethmoid hematoma.

Education
It is required of all citizens in Colorado River Republic to go to school for at least 10 years.

Legal system
The nation's penalty for treason, spying and murder is execution of the felons by firing squad.

Media
The main cities have had a once monthly news sheet since 1985.

Sport
Basket ball, pistol shooting, base ball and archery are poular sports in the nation.

Also see:

 * 1) 1962: Doomsday
 * 2) Add-hock weapons at hand (1962: Doomsday)
 * 3) Editorial Guidelines- (1962: Doomsday)
 * 4) Radioactive animals (1962: Doomsday)
 * 5) Survivor Nations (1962: Doomsday)
 * 6) A song in Europe (1962: Doomsday)
 * 7) Alcohol (1962: Doomsday)
 * 8) Sports (1962: Doomsday)
 * 9) Transport (1962: Doomsay)
 * 10) Afghanistan (1962: Doomsday)
 * 11) The Europa Alliance (1962: Doomsday)