Fallout I hate the Desert Rangers becoming NCR lapdogs.

[rusty_shackleford]

In Fallout New Vegas the rangers feel like nothing more than political attack dogs doing the work of the NCR. Why am I not also mentioning Fallout 2 here as well? I have a good reason, read on.
It's impossible to disentangle the Rangers in Fallout from the Rangers in Wasteland. They are effectively the same organization... Sort of. Desert Rangers in Wasteland are obviously based on the Arizona Rangers. What are the Arizona Rangers, what were they, how were they founded, and what did they do?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Rangers

The Arizona Rangers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, noncommissioned civilian auxiliary[1] that supports law enforcement in the US, state of Arizona.

Even in the real world right now, the Arizona Rangers are not an organization controlled by the US government. They are affiliated with the government.

Were the rangers lapdogs of the government, or men who wanted to uphold the law and spread peace throughout the territory?
https://azrangers.gov/history/

Responding to a telegraphed plea from Colonel William Greene of the Greene Consolidated Copper Company, a posse of 275 volunteers from Bisbee, Douglas and Naco, Arizona, led by Captain Thomas H. Rynning, entered Mexico against the orders of Joseph Kibbey Governor of Arizona Territory, but at the invitation of Rafael Yzabel, the Governor of Sonora, where they reinforced the Mexican rurales under Colonel Kosterlitzky. According to Colonel Green the “trouble was incited by a socialistic organization that has been formed in Cananea by malcontents opposed to the Diaz government.” Between the Ranger led posse and the Mexican rurales the riot was “put down” after several were killed and many injured.

On February 15, 1909 the act establishing the Arizona Rangers was repealed. The vote to repeal was vetoed by Republican Territorial Governor Joseph Kibbey, but the Democrat-dominated assembly over-rode the veto, backed by political pressure from county sheriffs and district attorneys in northern Arizona. During the eight years of its existence, 107 men served in the Arizona Territorial Rangers. The Arizona Rangers were extremely capable men whose exploits were extensively reported by the newspapers of the day.

The actual government lapdogs did not enjoy having the Arizona Rangers around. They were well aware that these men were a threat to them.

Now let us step back to the world of Fallout. What is the history of the Desert Rangers there?

Surprisingly... Not much. For you see, the NCR rangers are not the Desert Rangers.

Did the Desert Rangers exist in Fallout?
YES! Tycho is specifically referred to as one when you recruit him in Fallout.

{173}{}{You gain 300 experience points for recruiting Tycho, the desert ranger.}
{115}{}{Had some pretty good training, and some good weapons, too. My grandfather was a Ranger way back when, and he taught my father everything he knew. Dad passed it on to me. So I know enough not to drink glowing water, so to speak.}

It's not ever stated explicitly whether Tycho is actually a member of the Desert Rangers or simply trained by one, I think it was left unclear on purpose, and Jesse Heinig seemed to agree(Fallout Bible 9):

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.

Obsidian did the Desert Rangers dirty. Perhaps they just wanted to make a cheap reference to Wasteland, but in doing so, undermined the Desert(Arizona) Rangers, their independence, and their mission. The fact that there is no independent Desert Rangers faction in FNV is a travesty.