WYOMING
This state was strangely one of the most heavily nuked, having seen four mushroom clouds. The missile fields in the Cheyenne area were actual targets, but do to a quirk of Soviet technology, most of the ICBMs missed to the west. Today, Wyoming is nominally under MilGov influence, but really a wild-west throwback of outlaws and ranchers. The changing weather pattern has made parts of this region fertile again. About a quarter of the state is under direct MilGov control, but most of the controlled communities are fortified mines and facilities for the extraction of fuel from the local oil-shale. Not all of the facilities are complete by late 1964, but a small quantity of fuel is being produced and fed to the Colorado enclaves.
1) NUCLEAR TARGETS
Date Type Target
10/28/62 SS-7 Cheyenne
10/28/62 SS-7 Jackson Hole
10/28/62 SS-7 Bridger Peak area
2) ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES
The state's National Guard headquarters and nearly the entire command structure was in Cheyenne and was obliterated by the nuke hit there. As such, the state's military resources were slow to mobilize and most units were forced to rely on local control. Many units were consolidated and others disbanded, and others just melted away in the harsh winter of 1962 and the resulting epidemics. By 1964, the only remains of the Wyoming National Guard are a few scattered groups of artillerymen and construction engineers still maintaining the peace in isolated towns. These units are basically only loyal to the towns they live in and have little interest in the politics of the outside world. There are a also few MilGov advisors in Casper working with the government there, and a few small survey teams scouring the oil lands, but nothing coming close to an organized federal unit.
Battery B, 3rd Battalion/49th Artillery Regiment--Casper (175 men)
3) SOUTHEASTERN WYOMING
Cheyenne: The entire city of Cheyenne was essentially destroyed in the first few seconds of the war. Three Russian SS-7 ICBMs were targeted at the Atlas E ICBM fields surrounding the city on October 28, 1962. The 4th Air Division Headquarters at Francis E Warren Air Force Base to the NW was blasted by the first 6 megaton ground burst. The other two other SS-7s, targeted at the command bunkers for the silo groups in the area, each went awry due to guidance system failures, or perhaps caused by EMP interference from the first strike. One took the top off of Bridger Peak, (making the remainder still glow today), and the other fell on the "Hollywood of the Rockies", Jackson Hole. The damage to the AFB spilled over into Cheyenne and beyond. The destruction was absolute, nothing lives here, even after two years, and all is now just charred rubble, a belt of built-up, soot-blackened ruins, the land scoured and scorched. The ruins of the city itself are buried under a thin layer of black glass into which the silicates in the topsoil have been melted and the crater has through erosion and time created a large radioactive lake. The secondary effect of this was to poison the water supply for the entire area, further depopulating this corner of the state. Most of the small towns in the area were abandoned due to fallout from the strikes and the handful of survivors still living in the outlying areas have posted quarantine signs and are quietly waiting to die. An area roughly 120 miles in area has been declared dead land. The ICBM silos, saved being nuked but empty, are located at Chugwater, Lagrange, and Pine Bluffs. As well, one Atlas E launcher was located in Nebraska and five launchers were placed in Colorado at Grover, Briggsdale, Nunn, Greely, and Fort Collins. It is rumored that several of these missiles misfired and still sit in their silos, but one would assume that MilGov scouts have already checked this out.
Laramie: Between plague zones to the south, the blasted radioactive wasteland to the east, ravagers and hostile groups of marauders of all types, Laramie is a very dangerous place. Due to its nature and layout, it is not easily defended and many groups have controlled it over the past two years. The slow exodus of people trying to escape this mess has made Laramie into a virtual ghost town. At this time it is home to several hundred weary survivors, under almost daily attack by gangs and bikers looking for loot and slaves. They are led mayor Brookerman, a former biology professor at the University of Colorado. He organized the survivors and got them up and farming and rounding up animals so they could feed themselves. Some help has recently arrived from the MilGov-supported enclave at Casper (see below). The Wyoming Territorial Prison in the city is currently a garrison building for a detachment of Casper Confederation troops detailed to help secure the area. Structurally sound, it serves as a haven for weary and often hotly pursued survivors. The troopers inside render as much aid as is possible, given the circumstances. The Laramie County Community College, though looted and trashed, still holds many books of value and over the last few months there has been an initiative to transfer books and other education material to the Casper State College. It has met with varying degrees of success as MilGov would prefer that Casper concentrate on oil and guns.
Rawlins: To the west of Laramie, Rawlins is a haven for a large outlaw gang that terrorizes the southern part of the state. Led by "His Majesty Tybalt I, King of the Cats", they are several hundred strong and are armed with everything including mortars stolen from NG armories. They keep their slaves and women in the old 1903 prison in town.
Saratoga: A town on the edge of the North Platte oil fields. Though the wells are no longer producing and the local refineries have been gutted and stripped, MilGov agents are here now working to reopen some. The marauders in Rawlins are being closely watched for interference.
4) WESTERN WYOMING
The wild and rugged mountains are characterized by the strong will of the people still living here. Many small isolated mountain towns of hearty ranchers and mountain folk have banded together to keep secure and have collectivized all the surrounding ranches for the common good. People that live here are used to being on their own, and to making due with what they have. With time, patience, and a spirit of innovation, the people of this area have built new lives.
Jackson: The wayward 6 megaton nuke that ground burst just outside Jackson Hole sufficed to effectively kill the entire populace of that resort town. Due to the nature of the mountains and the detonation characteristics of the warhead, however, there was very little actual physical damage done.
Yellowstone National Park: The Catholic Cardinal for Denver was vacationing here when the bombs fell and was trapped deep in the backcountry. He has since founded "New Rome" in Yellowstone with a small Catholic survivor enclave. The Hot Spring still flows and is a needed source of natural clean water--the Catholics consider the water to be holy. The Cardinal believes he is holding the Christian faith in trust until communication can be re-established with Mother Rome and the Pope.
5) NORTHERN WYOMING
The isolated plains of Northern Wyoming have given rise to several anti-social groups.
White Action!: To the west of Meeteetse, up in the Absaroka Mountains, is the camp of a White Supremacy group called "White Action!". Counting dependents there are about 80-100 survivalist holed up here. They are all well-armed and train diligently to protect their claim.
Buffalo: Buffalo has almost completely reverted to an Old West atmosphere and way of life. This change didn’t happen gradually, it was almost overnight. The 500 or so civilians still here are currently being held hostage by the "Sisters of Lesbos", an all lesbian biker gang. The bikers have several WWII-vintage Mk 19 mortars, some MGs and enough ammo to last through the winter.
Sheridan: Approximately 75% of the original population of Sheridan has either died or left to seek relatives or other fortunes. Today it is the home base of a very strong White Supremacy-leaning marauder/biker group led by a man who calls himself "Satan". They number about 1,250, and the men and women share equal duties as fighters. The HQ is at a fortified ranch house to the north of the town, where there are always 50 to 75 of the most trained marauders acting as bodyguards for Satan. In the town are several hundred slaves.
Casper: The breakdown in social order with its accompanying looting and chaos, just didn’t happen in Casper. These people were tough, they quietly took stock of their situation and started over. Once it was clear to the civic leaders that the world had been destroyed and they were on their own, they made their own plans to survive. The town was home to the Wyoming National Guard's Battery B of the 3rd Battalion/49th Artillery Regiment with it's accompanying armory, and these men helped keep the peace and security in the early days of the chaos. Organized by the NG leaders, a large number of vehicles were mustered together for a trip to Camp Guernsey Military Reservation to the west at Guernsey. As the largest ammo and equipment store house of military equipment in the area, it was the logical first move. After ferrying over as much as they could, they began “enlisting” the remaining staff of Camp Guernsey to come to Casper to help them. Today, the Battery has some 175 men under arms and the command structure works closely with the civic leaders to keep the area safe. Thankfully they didn’t have much refugee traffic come through during that first winter, the radioactive band at Cheyenne kept refugees from the Denver area away. The city began to gather the small towns surrounding it into a protective association, building anti-marauder outposts in a picket ring around the city. Sometime in 1963, the locals started calling it the "Casper Confederation" and the name stuck. Today, Casper is a little known paradise on the plains. Surrounded by empty lands on all points of the compass, most trading is done within a hundred mile radius and as such costs of goods are very reasonable. MilGov agents from Colorado Springs realized early that Casper's strength would be invaluable to any attempt to reclaim the state. A flow of arms and material to the militia here began in early 1964, and Casper returns the favor by helping MilGov to reopen the coal and shale oil fields in it's area.
Wind River Indian Reservation: Now completely deserted. The reasons for this are unknown to those non-Indians in the area. There are any number of theories, but no actual proof. On the rare occasions that the Casper Confederation or others have attempted to learn the reason, their spies haven’t returned.
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