World War II - Relocation Camps - Heart Mountain Subject File

The article covers the perspective of three Japanese American draft resisters who were incarcerated at Heart Mountain and later convicted and sent federal prison. They returned to Wyoming for a panel discussion in Cheyenne in 2001.

The article discusses the experiences of Takashi Hoshizaki, a Japanese American draft resister who had been incarcerated at Heart Mountain and a film project about the resistance, Conscience and the Constitution, that was completed in 2000.

The article highlights some of the contributions made by Japanese American detainees to agriculture in Wyoming during World War II. They include digging canals and ditches used for irrigation and working for $12 a month harvesting crops on farms in the area surrounding Heart Mountain.

The article details some of the experiences of Bettie Kadota, a Japanese American incarceree at Heart Mountain. Kadota worked as a nurse at the Heart Mountain Hospital.

The article, written by the editor of the Heart Mountain Sentinel, outlines statistics about the occupations of Heart Mountain incarcerees and announces the appointment of a city planning board, which recommended the construction of Heart Mountain High School as well as two elementary schools.

The article highlights the friendship that developed between two Boy Scouts, one from Cody and another a Japanese American incarceree at Heart Mountain. The boys grew up to be U.S. Senator Alan Simpson and U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Norm Mineta.

This article announces the first arrivals to Heart Mountain Relocation Center and discusses the plan for managing the affairs of the community at Heart Mountain.

The article discusses the rapid population increase at Heart Mountain Relocation Center in its first month of operation as incarcerees were brought by train from California.

This article covers the petition that 3,000 Japanese American incarcerees signed requesting that the barbed wire fence and watch-towers surrounding Heart Mountain Relocation Center be removed.

This article describes conditions and activities at Heart Mountain in the year since its opening.  

These articles from Wyoming newspapers cover topics ranging from the controversy over fresh fruits and vegetables that were delivered to Heart Mountain to a pro-American editorial in the Heart Mountain Sentinel.

These articles from Wyoming newspapers give insight to the prejudices faced by the Heart Mountain incarcerees, and the scrutiny placed on Heart Mountain Relocation Center operations by politicians

This article reports on an editorial in the Heart Mountain Sentinel which was a response to politicians claiming that Heart Mountain incarcerees were being pampered.

This article announces the construction of a bakery at Heart Mountain to meet the daily demand for bread in the mess halls and adds that incarcerees will also begin making tofu, a staple food for many of Japanese descent.

Heart Mountain Project Director C.E. Rachford writes a letter published in the Lusk Herald newspaper to adddress some of the rumors that have been circulating in Wyoming about conditions and activities at Heart Mountain.

This article discusses the Japanese American incarcerees released from Heart Mountain to work harvesting sugar beets in Wyoming and Montana. While farmers were eager to have their labor, the incarcerees faced hostility and suspicion. 

This article discusses plans for incarcerees to farm the land around Heart Mountain to produce more food for themselves. With food rationing underway across the U.S., there was a great deal of pressure on the War Relocation Authority to make Heart Mountain self sufficient.

This article covers the demand for milk at Heart Mountain. While there was much resistance to and suspicion of the people of Japanese descent incarcerated at Heart Mountain, some saw the Relocation Center as a possible source of profit.

This article provides more detail about ways in which the Japanese American incarcerees at Heart Mountain will be made available to labor as farm workers in Powell. 

This article reports on the War Relocation Authority's efforts to segregate Japanese who were deemed loyal to the U.S. from those deemed disloyal. Those who were considered disloyal were sent to Tule Lake Relocation Center in California. In order to make room for the influx of incarcerees at Tule Lake, a number of loyal Tule Lake incarcerees were sent to Heart Mountain.

This article details the bountiful harvest at Heart Mountain just one year after it opened. Given the barren land around Heart Mountain, this was accomplished thanks to the agricultural knowledge and hard work of the incarcerees.

This article in the Powell Tribune newspaper was written by an incarceree at Heart Mountain. Among the topics covered are cleanliness in the mess halls and the newly constructed high school building.

This article highlights both the paternalistic attitude and discrimination faced by the people of Japanese descent incarcerated at Heart Mountain. While the Governor of Wyoming was encouraging them to return to their original homes after incarceration, politicians in California were arguing that the incarcerees would not be welcomed back in California.

This article is illustrative of the challenges faced by Japanese American incarcerees who wanted to relocate out of Heart Mountain. The War Relocation Authority actively discouraged them from making plans to settle in Denver and the surrounding region.

This article, written by the editor of the Heart Mountain Sentinel newspaper and published in the Cody newspaper provides a glimpse into life at Heart Mountain.

This article in the Powell Tribune newspaper was written by an incarceree at Heart Mountain. It gives insight into every day life at Heart Mountain, including the arrival of 400 people from Tule Lake Relocation Center.

This article in the Powell Tribune was written by an incarceree at Heart Mountain. Among the topics covered are the opening of a blood bank and the visit by a Quaker minister from California.

This article covers the Dies Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives which held a series of hearings into how the War Relocation Authority was managing its internment camps, including Heart Mountain.

This article give insight into some of the jobs done by Heart Mountain incarcerees outside the internment camp.

This article illustrates the discrimination faced by even the best students at Heart Mountain High School.

This article describes the rejection of ballot applications from two soldiers who enlisted from Heart Mountain. The Wyoming legislature passed a law that prohibited incarcerees from voting in any election held in the state.

This article announces the awarding of a silver star for gallantry in action in Italy to Japanese American Sergeant Mac M. Motonaga. Motonaga's mother was incarcerated at Heart Mountain.

This article discusses the Army's segregation of Japanese American soldiers into special units, with quotes from the Heart Mountain Sentinel newspaper.

This article covers the acceptance by a Japanese American woman into the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. She had been incarcerated at Heart Mountain with her family.

This article announces that a group of Japanese American incarcerees has been arrested for failure to report for their pre-induction examinations for army service.

This article covers the trial of 63 Japanese American incarcerees from Heart Mountain. They were accused of draft evasion and failure to report for their pre-induction physical examinations.

This article gives insight into the thinking of U.S. District Judge T. Blake Kennedy in the sentencing of 63 Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated at Heart Mountain.

This article covers the arrests of several Japanese Americans accused of being members of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee.

This article describes the sentencing of Japanese Americans from Heart Mountain after they were found guilty of a conspiracy to violate the national selective service act. Their attorney vowed to appeal the case to a higher court.

This article illustrates the tension within the Japanese American community incarcerated at Heart Mountain. There were some, like members of the Fair Play Committee, who resisted the draft. Others, like Sergeant Ben Kuroki, who visited Heart Mountain, took pride in their service in the U.S. military and spoke out against the resisters.

This article covers two announcements. First, that the war department has revoked the ban which prohibited all people of Japanese ancestry from living in the Pacific coastal states. Second, that Heart Mountain Relocation Center will be closed.

This article covers the remarks by the national director of the War Relocation Authority to incarcerees at Heart Mountain. Despite the difficult conditions at Heart Mountain, some incarcerees were reluctant to return to California and the West Coast, rightly suspecting they would face hostilities upon their return.

This article discusses plans at Heart Mountain, in light of the U.S. government decision to close the camp. Plans include stopping farming operations and livestock activities as well as closing the schools.

This article discusses the prejudices Heart Mountain incarcerees faced from local communities in Wyoming and across the West. It highlights the Japanese and Japanese Americans' struggles, while enduring hostility, forced labor and confinement, while also contributing to local economies and volunteering for military service.