Heart Mountain War Relocation Camp, Wyoming
The Land
Wyoming is known for its national parks, Yellowstone and Grand Teton, It has wondrous rock formations, such as the Devils Tower. But Heart Mountain Relocation Camp was not located in the scenic area of Wyoming. It was located about 70 miles east of Yellowstone National Park and located between the towns of Cody (elevation 5,000 feet) and Powell (elevation 4,400 feet) in the high desert country of the state. The area was covered with sage brush and grass and is known for its freezing winters and scorching summers.
The location was chosen for its isolation and close proximity to a railroad line for easy off-loading of supplies and people. The 1942 road map below shows Cody and Powell on Wyoming Highway 14. Heart Mountain, the camp, was built north of that highway, between the railroad line and Heart Mountain, the mountain, elevation 8,123 feet..
Wyoming is known for its national parks, Yellowstone and Grand Teton, It has wondrous rock formations, such as the Devils Tower. But Heart Mountain Relocation Camp was not located in the scenic area of Wyoming. It was located about 70 miles east of Yellowstone National Park and located between the towns of Cody (elevation 5,000 feet) and Powell (elevation 4,400 feet) in the high desert country of the state. The area was covered with sage brush and grass and is known for its freezing winters and scorching summers.
The location was chosen for its isolation and close proximity to a railroad line for easy off-loading of supplies and people. The 1942 road map below shows Cody and Powell on Wyoming Highway 14. Heart Mountain, the camp, was built north of that highway, between the railroad line and Heart Mountain, the mountain, elevation 8,123 feet..
The land was originally part of the Shoshone Project, a Bureau of Reclamation irrigation project. In 1937 the Bureau using private contractors and Civilian Conservation Corps workers to begin construction on the Shoshone Canyon Conduit and the Heart Mountain Canal, The Conduit was completed the next year.
But the completion of the Heart Mountain Canal had to wait until new workers arrived in 1942. The new workers were the camp residents. By the time the camp closed in 1945, the irrigation canal was complete and the land was much more valuable. Farming was possible.
But the completion of the Heart Mountain Canal had to wait until new workers arrived in 1942. The new workers were the camp residents. By the time the camp closed in 1945, the irrigation canal was complete and the land was much more valuable. Farming was possible.
Welcome !
Governor Nels K. Smith, as shown on a 1942 road map of Wyoming, did not greet the 10,000 internees as they disembarked from the train. They were greeted by military men in uniform.
Governor Smith is quoted as saying the people in his state "have a dislike of any Orientals, and simply will not stand for being California's dumping ground." He insisted that the internees be put in concentration camps, work under guard, and be removed from Wyoming at the war's end. (Per information provided by the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center sign board.)
Our New Home
The internees might have noticed the beauty of the mountain, known as Heart Mountain, as they disembarked from the train.
But they mainly saw a bleak landscape covered with hastily built barracks and armed guards. High barbed wire fences and 9 guard towers came later.
The construction of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center began on June 8, 1942. Two thousand workers (no experience necessary) completed the camp consisting of 467 barracks in approximately sixty days. Speed of construction was primary. The quality of construction was secondary. "In many cases doors and windows were improperly installed and failed to close completely. In addition, gaping cracks between wallboards made both privacy and protection from Wyoming weather difficult. The inmates worked quickly to improve their new "homes" by hanging spare sheets and celotex from the roof and stuffing cracks with rags and newspapers for warmth and privacy. The units were scantily furnished: each room contained one light, one stove, and army cots for each individual." (Description from Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project).
The first group of evacuees arrived on August 12, 1942. My family arrived on September 13, 1942. Eventually Heart Mountain held over 11,000 people, making it the third largest city in Wyoming.
Governor Nels K. Smith, as shown on a 1942 road map of Wyoming, did not greet the 10,000 internees as they disembarked from the train. They were greeted by military men in uniform.
Governor Smith is quoted as saying the people in his state "have a dislike of any Orientals, and simply will not stand for being California's dumping ground." He insisted that the internees be put in concentration camps, work under guard, and be removed from Wyoming at the war's end. (Per information provided by the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center sign board.)
Our New Home
The internees might have noticed the beauty of the mountain, known as Heart Mountain, as they disembarked from the train.
But they mainly saw a bleak landscape covered with hastily built barracks and armed guards. High barbed wire fences and 9 guard towers came later.
The construction of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center began on June 8, 1942. Two thousand workers (no experience necessary) completed the camp consisting of 467 barracks in approximately sixty days. Speed of construction was primary. The quality of construction was secondary. "In many cases doors and windows were improperly installed and failed to close completely. In addition, gaping cracks between wallboards made both privacy and protection from Wyoming weather difficult. The inmates worked quickly to improve their new "homes" by hanging spare sheets and celotex from the roof and stuffing cracks with rags and newspapers for warmth and privacy. The units were scantily furnished: each room contained one light, one stove, and army cots for each individual." (Description from Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project).
The first group of evacuees arrived on August 12, 1942. My family arrived on September 13, 1942. Eventually Heart Mountain held over 11,000 people, making it the third largest city in Wyoming.
In 2011, the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation opened the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center on the site of the former relocation camp. The foundation's mission is "to preserve the site that represents a period in U.S. history following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of them American-born citizens, were deprived of due process and forced to leave their homes and livelihoods to be incarcerated in Relocation Centers and to educate the public about the history of the illegal imprisonment of Japanese Americans at Heart Mountain during World War II and its impact on the Big Horn Basin."