OUT OF THE DESERT

Heart Mountain

HEART MOUNTAIN

Official name:	Heart Mountain Relocation Center	Location:	Park County, Wyoming
Coordinates:	44.67° N, 108.95° W	Size OF CAMP:	46,000 acres
Opening date:	August 12, 1942	Peak population:	10,767
Date of peak:	January 1, 1943	Closing date:	November 10, 1945

Located in the barren and harsh climate of Cody, Wyoming, Heart Mountain was one of the War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps. In 1943, internee workers completed the Shoshone Irrigation Project, which include a 5,000-foot canal as they cleared land for farming. Through these agricultural initiatives, Heart Mountain was noted to have one of the most successful agricultural programs and introduced new crops to the region. Various forms of activism and resistance sprang up at Heart Mountain including the well-known Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee, which argued for the restoration of Nisei civil rights prior to compliance with the military draft.

The Japanese Evacuation and the Minority Problem

Pamphlet by Samuel Nagata, illustration by Miné Okubo

“Army Revokes West Coast Exclusion Order”

Pacific Citizen – December 23, 1944

Heart Mountain Relocation Project

Study committee for the opening of the West Coast

When You Leave the Relocation Center

WRA pamphlet regarding resettlement

How to Relocate Through a Hostel

Pamphlet by American Baptist Home Mission Society, American Friends Service Committee, and Brethren Service Committee

Outcasts! The Story of America’s Treatment of Her Japanese-American Minority

Booklet by Caleb Foote and the Fellowship of Reconciliation