HOMETOWN MYSTERIES (PART III OF IV - HEART MOUNTAIN'S DARK HISTORY)

In my last couple of posts, I have talked about beautiful parts of my hometown of Cody, Wyoming. The beautiful things in my hometown are too many to mention, which I am so thankful for. History is full of amazing places with amazing things wherever we go. 

History also has its dark times as well. These dark times don’t necessarily have to define a person or place, but it is something that helps to make them. Cody, Wyoming isn’t immune to some of the sadder chapters of history, and it would be foolish for me to sugarcoat all of the history of Cody, Wyoming, as those who do not study history, are generally doomed to repeat it.

World War II was a chapter in history that changed many facets of the world as we knew it, and has shaped it into what we now know in 2017. 

We saw many difficult things come out of World War II such as a madman waging war across Europe, the systematic death of 6,000,000 Jews, the death of a further 4,000,000 people at the hands of the Nazi’s, the death of over 12,000,000 Russians as a direct result of war and also their leader, Josef Stalin, and many more horrific scenes that are too many to mention individually. 

The geography of Europe was changed drastically and forever, and though Cody, Wyoming was half-a-world away, it too was changed in a dramatic way by the events of World War II.

Now, the most horrific evils of the war weren’t perpetrated in my hometown, but it did have a role to play in some of the travesties of the war. After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7^th, 1941, the mainland United States got involved in more ways than sending troops abroad to fight for world justice and destruction of tyranny and evil. 

Now, it is important to realize that Cody, Wyoming wasn’t acting independently of the country, but it did play host to a controversial attack on American citizens’ rights perpetrated out of fear and self-preservation.

The post Pearl Harbor response from the country was swift and intense, if not wholly oppressive to certain groups of people. Now, I am not saying that our country didn’t have some just cause to worry as they did, and given the circumstances of the events of December 7^th, 1941, and that time of the 20^th century altogether. If I were a major decision maker at that time, I don’t know honestly how I would have handled the situation.

Shortly after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, ordering the detainment of citizens of Japanese-American, Italian-American, and German-American citizens in zones deemed risky to military authority. 

This order led to the detention and relocation of several people from these different subsets during the war. This was done as a preemptive measure to protect the country from possible further attacks with those that may sympathize with their countries of heritage. Somehow, through all this, the space between Cody and Powell, Wyoming was selected as a major area for the relocation of several thousand Japanese-American citizens, in what was known as the “Heart Mountain Relocation Center” from August 1942, until November 1945.

As I have discussed in previous posts from my hometown segment of History’s Mysteries, Heart Mountain is one of the most iconic and picturesque mountains in Cody, Wyoming. From all angles, the mountain has aspects of beauty and holds wonderment for all those who see it. The area of land in question was originally part of the Shoshone Project for irrigation as part of the Bureau of Reclamation.

In 1897, Buffalo Bill teamed up with good friend and fellow investor, Nate Salisbury. Together they purchased 120,000 acres of land near Heart Mountain. A couple years later, in 1899, Buffalo Bill and Nate Salisbury acquired irrigation rights for 60,000 of their purchased acres surrounding the then newly formed town of Cody. 

Not long into their irrigation venture with the large expanse of land, they discovered it was far too costly to make a viable irrigation business and in 1904, Buffalo Bill and Nate Salisbury made a deal with the federal government, and the land was acquired in one of the earliest examples of a Bureau of Reclamation project. In the years from 1904 until 1941, the federal government continued to work with the Bureau of Reclamation to make a successful attempt at irrigation of the land.

That is when the country changing event happened on an island in the South Pacific, and on December 7^th, 1941, the bases on Oahu at Pearl Harbor were attacked by the Imperial Japanese. This of course sent shockwaves throughout the country and all of its citizens. This event changed the isolated and safe feel the country had had for centuries. As mentioned previously, quickly following the events of that fateful day in 1941, Executive Order 9066 was signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the lives of thousands changed forever.

With Executive Order 9066, military commanders were given autonomy to determine certain “zones” where they could, without hindrance, create these “zones” where “any and all persons may be excluded”. These commanders did just this, and this resulted in areas of western Washington, Oregon, southern Arizona, and all of California becoming these “Exclusion Zones” in March 1942.

These “Exclusion Zones” targeted Japanese-Americans, Italian-Americans, and German-Americans to be excluded from these areas. Soon after, around 110,000 Japanese-Americans from inside the boundaries of these “Exclusion Zones” were forced into temporary “Assembly Centers” which were run by the Wartime Civil Control Administration.

On May 23^rd, 1942, the War Department announced a location in Wyoming that would be the home to a large internment camp. They landed on the decision for Wyoming due to how isolated the area was, and how convenient it would be due to being close to fresh water, was adjacent to a railroad that could transport the inmates and bring food and supplies, and there were plenty of jobs for the inmates that would boost economy for the areas around Cody and Powell, Wyoming.

On June 1^st, 1942, 46,000 acres of land and several buildings were transferred from the Bureau of Reclamation to the War Relocation Authority. Almost immediately production of the camp began. On June 8^th, 1942, around 2,000 workers began work on construction of the camp under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers. 

The engineers and labor force created a 740-acre enclosure surrounded by barbed wire fencing and nine guard towers around the perimeter. Inside this perimeter, they constructed 650 military-style barracks that were laid out in a street grid and had administrative, hospital, educational, utility facilities, and 468 residential buildings set up for the internees. 

This was no easy feat, as the Chief Engineer only had 60 days to complete the construction, and due to the rush, the construction was lacking in quality. The camp needed to be set up to be self-sufficient, including electricity being brought in, which wasn’t even fully available to all residents of the town of Cody.

On August 12, 1942, the first Japanese-American inmates arrived at the newly constructed and founded Heart Mountain Relocation Center. In that first wave of internees being brought in, 6,448 were brought from Los Angeles County, 2,572 were brought from Santa Clarita County, 678 were brought from San Francisco, and 843 were brought from Yakima County in Washington. The Heart Mountain Relocation Center soon became known as the third largest “town” in all of Wyoming until November of 1945.

The new detainees were assigned to barracks immediately upon arrival at the camp based on their family size. Other than being detained and forced to live in a place not of their choosing, the Japanese-Americans had autonomy within the camp. Of course, that is a small consolation given what these American citizens had been through. Immediately, residents of the camp started to make “home” improvements in their barracks and some were even able to order tools from Sears to complete the work.

Each barrack had only one light bulb, one wood-burning stove, and army cot and two blankets per person. The camp had shared bathrooms per block of barracks and meals were eaten in a communal mess hall.

Though, within the camp, the Japanese-Americans had autonomy and lived an illusion of freedom, they were constantly reminded that they were inmates by the armed MP’s that were manning the nine guard towers.

All of the main leaders of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center were of European decent (most likely not German or Italian) and ran the main administration of the camp. However, there were Nisei managers and Issei councilmen who were elected by the other inmate population and had administrative duties in the camp, though on a limited level compared to their Caucasian counterparts.

Nisei (Japanese word meaning; second generation) are those American citizens of Japanese descent that were born in either North or South America to Japanese immigrants. The Issei are the Japanese immigrants who settled in North or South America.

Employment throughout the camp ranged from working in the hospital, camp schools, the dining/mess hall, garment factory, cabinet shop, sawmill, and silk screen shop to name a few of the industries. Again, I have to remind you, that even though the illusion of freedom existed, there truly was not and that was most evident with the barbed wire and armed guards, but it also was seen in the day to day with the working Japanese-Americans. 

All of the Japanese-Americans, regardless of the job they did, only received between $12-$19 per month, which was roughly worth $186.92-$295.95 today. This figure seems fairly nominal, even by 1942 standards and that was because the United States government decided the inmates couldn’t be allowed to earn more than an Army Private, no matter the job being done. 

For instance, in the hospital in the camp, Caucasian nurses were making $150 per month, the equivalent of $2,336.44 today, whereas Japanese-American doctors were only making $19 per month, the equivalent of $295.95 today.

In October 1942, schools for inmate’s children were opened in the camp. Though it started very small and housed students of all ages at the time, in 1943 a high school was built in the camp. In just its first year of operation, the high school educated roughly 1,500 students. 

The high school was like any other high school you may find in the nation, including the rest of Wyoming. There were regular classrooms, a gymnasium, a library, and the high school even formed its own sports teams, including football, and the team was called the Heart Mountain Eagles. The sports teams were able to compete with other local Wyoming teams.

The camp held sporting events, had movie theaters, religious services, crafting groups and clubs, all geared to make life as normal as possible for the inmates of the camp. Children had access to both Boy and Girl Scout troops and over the years many were formed. They engaged in the typical scouting activities in their recognized chapters such as, hiking, camping, craft-making and swimming to name a few.

In 1943, the camp officials administered a new and mandatory government form to all the inmates, called the Leave Clearance Form, otherwise known as the “Loyalty Questionnaire”. There were two controversial questions on the form, #27 and #28, and these were geared to ascertain whether those answering them were loyal or disloyal Japanese-Americans. Question #27 asked the male inmates if they were willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States, and question #28 asked the inmates if they were willing to deny allegiance to the Japanese Emperor.

This questionnaire of course sent a message to Japanese-Americans that wasn’t well accepted. Many were highly offended and felt they were being turned on by their own country because of their heritage. 

Due in large part to the wrongful internment of the inmates, and more stipulations such as the Leave Clearance Form, one of the inmates, Kiyoshi Okamoto formed the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee. This committee was filled with members who protested the infringement of the Nisei rights, and shortly after, Frank Emi and Paul Nakadate posted fliers around the camp discouraging anyone from answering questions #27 and #28.

The disapproval of the Nisei in the camp didn’t stop there, and it seemed as though the federal government was only stoking the fires, though maybe not intentionally. It was at this time that the United States Army lifted the restrictions against the Nisei that disallowed them from joining the armed forces and serving in them due to being listed as enemy aliens after the events at Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Once this restriction was lifted, the Army expected the Nisei to join the military and fight for the causes of the United States, and due to heavy casualties, the United States was experiencing, the country implemented a draft, which included those Japanese-American men in all ten camps around the country. 

This of course further insulted the Nisei extremely and they decided to take some decisive action. Not all of the Nisei were offended and were honored to be able to join the military and fight for their country. The Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee started to reach out to others men in the camp who had been drafted, to refuse serving in the military until the freedoms illegally taken from the Nisei were restored.

On March 25, 1944, U.S. Marshalls were sent into Heart Mountain Relocation Center to arrest those they saw as guilty of felony draft evasion, and in July 1944, the largest mass trial to ever take place in the United States was underway. A total of 300 Nisei draft resisters from eight camps were put on trial and that included 22 from Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 

This trial was responsible for convicting those charged with felony draft evasion and sentenced most of them to federal prison. Also, the seven oldest leaders of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee were convicted of conspiracy to violate the Selective Services Act and were sentenced to four-years in federal prison. 

Though not the largest in literal numbers, due to the lower population of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center compared to some of the other camps, the 85 draft resisters from the Heart Mountain Relocation Center gave this camp the highest rate of draft resistance out of all the camps in the country. 

American pride did run strong however, because even though 85 of the Nisei at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center resisted the draft, over 800 other Nisei from the camp did join the U.S. Army and served for their country. Of these 800 brave men, fifteen were killed in action and fifty-two were wounded in action.

Joe Hayashi and James K. Okubo received Medals of Honor after their deaths for the bravery they showed and their valor in battle, making Heart Mountain Relocation Center the only one of the ten camps in the country to have more than one Medal of Honor recipient.

In late 1944, a monument called the Honor Roll was erected in the camp to honor those fallen and wounded heroes that had fought for our country. This monument stood for fifty-years until it was removed by the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation for the preservation. In 2003, the foundation put out an exact replica of the Honor Roll in the place where the original was erected as they continue to conserve and restore the original Honor Roll.

In December 1944, the first act of the federal government that didn’t infringe further on the rights of the Japanese-Americans was completed in the form of Franklin Delano Roosevelt rescinding Executive Order 9066 and announcing the release of the Japanese-Americans to be able to return to the West Coast. 

In January 1945, the first wave of Japanese-Americans started to depart the camp to start their lives over either in their old hometowns, or someplace new. The United States government provided every former inmate with a train ticket and $25, which would be worth $389.41 today. 

Interestingly by June 1945, only 2,000 Japanese-American residents had left the camp, and a further 7,000, mostly too young and too old to relocate easily, remained behind. Sadly, any Japanese-Americans leaving the camp were barred from making homesteads in Wyoming due to the Alien Land Law which was implemented in 1943, and wasn’t actually reversed until 2001. The last inmates finally left the camp on November 10^th, 1945, thus finally closing the doors on a dark chapter in Wyoming history.

Shortly after the Heart Mountain Relocation Center was closed, the barracks, equipment and land were sold to farmers and former servicemen. The only remaining buildings from the time of the camp that are still there today are the remains of the hospital, which includes the complex foundations and three buildings, Heart Mountain High School storage shed, root cellar, Honor Roll World War II Memorial, and a portion of a remodeled barrack.

In 1996, the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation was formed and set out to preserve and memorialize the site and events for all ages to see and learn from. A board of committee members was formed and some of the members are former inmates of the camp. 

In 2007, the Heart Mountain Relocation Center was granted status on the National Historic Landmark Registry, and on August 20^th, 2011, the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center was opened. The center features many exhibits that teach all who come about the camp, what led to the camp being created, life in the camp, the draft resisters, and many other facets of the camp and the history that give those who tour a greater knowledge of the history. 

Along with the exhibits, visitors can go on walking tours of the remaining structures and have guides discuss the history with them at the same time. The foundation also hosts an annual pilgrimage to the site of previous inmates which began with the Center’s opening in 2011.

I have toured the camp several times, before and after the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation and Center were opened in 2011. I have toured the old building remnants and stood in awe at the history that unfolded in my own backyard. 

I feel a certain guilt towards the inmates that made this place their home for three-years and feel a little better that federal apologies were made and reparation efforts were commenced for the living former inmates. 

One time as I was walking through the complex and came upon a building that was the storage area for the high school, which has a large square chimney, I saw a tourist with a look of horror on her face. She turned to me and asked if they had put the Japanese-Americans in gas chambers and cremated them in the building with the chimney. 

I was appalled that such a thought existed, but given that time in history and the use of the concentration camps in Europe, I could see the woman’s horror and confusion. I was able to explain to her that none of that happened in America and I explained that the chimney was simply attached to a wood-burning stove for heat in the storage area. This is the major reason that I will always refer to the camps in America as internment camps, because concentration camps have a connotation of evil and people visualize death camps of the Nazi’s.

There are of course the mysteries that surround the Heart Mountain Relocation Center to this day, and that is in the form of paranormal occurrences. I think with all areas that have a congregation of thousands of people who have anger and turmoil at their situation, have a potential to have paranormal aspects to them.

It is reported that nothing of significance happens during the day in the remains of the camp except for a friendly spirit that will follow explorers around and is felt by many. At night, however, there is much more activity reported in and around the ruins of the camp. It is said that noises and footsteps can be heard when no one is moving and some get the feeling that there is someone or something following them and watching them. Shadows are seen and some have attributed them to “Shadow People”, and it is reported that they are not malicious and just like to watch the explorers.

I personally have never seen anything on the camp grounds, but I have gotten the feeling of years of emotions in the area and there is a somberness and sadness as one travels through the camp. Are the ghosts real? I don’t know, but there is history that can be felt, and the Heart Mountain Relocation Center goes down as one of History’s Mysteries.