In fact, there is so much debris at the center of the rim, it actually blocks passage to the east side. However, the battles did take their toll and made the east side of the Rim wrecked and uninhabitable. The fighting was fierce, and Governor Dodge still to this day does not understand the motive for the attack, but suffice it to say that Dodge, the NCR troops, and the formidable wall with high powered gun turrets thwarted Caesar's invasion plans. The only real trouble came when a group known as Caesar's Legion tried to invade Hoover Dam. Naturally, Dodge and his NCR troops stayed in the Rim, where Councilman Dodge became known as Governor Dodge by the people of Hoover Dam, and was regarded as a fair, honest leader who brought the settlers of Hoover Dam into a time of enlightenment and self-worth. Everyone started to feel as if they had a purpose in the Hoover Dam community, and the Dam started to separate into a class system, with government and high-end business people occupying the area known as the Rim, and the working class, such as construction workers and farmers, occupying the area known as Downtown.
With each completed structure, the settlers of Hoover Dam felt more secure and safe, especially after Dodge's men made short work of attacking raiders in the early years. With exuberant cooperation from the Hoover settlers, structures and fortifications were set up along the dam's rim. Frequented by attacks from hostile raiders, it took little convincing on Dodge's part that it would be in the settlers' best interests that he and his NCR troops provide protection and an organized structure to the Hoover Dam region, with Hoover Dam itself being the central hub. Once Dodge's caravans and troops arrived at Hoover Dam, they found scattered packs of settlers barely eking out an existence on and around the great structure. The technology used at Hoover Dam could rival, if not surpass, anything the Brotherhood of Steel had, and that was a temptation NCR did not want to refute, especially during the growing tensions between the two organizations. In the days before the war, Hoover Dam was a source of great power, literally, and NCR wanted to have control of that power. He was given vague directions to Hoover Dam as his destination and à cause d' être. Luckily for Dodge, he was not sent out to blindly search for random towns to conquer, or rather, "unite" under NCR. At first, he tried to sidestep the "honor," but when he was told that refusing this mission would be considered an act of treason, he humbly accepted. One of those "lucky" commanders chosen to volunteer for this dangerous mission was Councilman Joseph Dodge. So, more "expendable" commanders were chosen to lead caravans eastward to establish footholds and develop towns under the NCR banner.
Since tensions were high with the Brotherhood of Steel, NCR did not want to send out their finest commanders in search of eastern lands to pioneer.