Gila River War Relocation Center

Gila River Internment Camp

School children participating in the Harvest Festival Parade

Location in Pinal County and the state of Arizona
Gila River Internment Camp

Location in the United States

Coordinates: 33°03′54.3″N 111°49′49.9″W / 33.065083°N 111.830528°W / 33.065083; -111.830528Coordinates: 33°03′54.3″N 111°49′49.9″W / 33.065083°N 111.830528°W / 33.065083; -111.830528
Country United States
County Pinal
Area
  Total 2.4 sq mi (6.1 km2)
  Land 2.4 sq mi (6.2 km2)
Time zone MST (no DST) (UTC-7)

The Gila River War Relocation Center was an internment camp built by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) for internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. It was located about 30 miles (48.3 km) southeast of Phoenix, Arizona.

History

The relocation center was located on the Gila River Indian Reservation, near an irrigated agricultural center. It comprised two separate camps, named 'Canal' and 'Butte'. Construction began on May 1, 1942, over the strong objections of the reservation's American Indian government. The official opening took place less than two months later, on July 20. Canal Camp closed on September 28, 1945. Butte Camp was shut down on November 10, 1945 and the Gila River Internment Center was officially closed on November 16, 1945.

Gila River received internees from California (Fresno, Sacramento, and Los Angeles). In addition, it took in 2,000 people from the Jerome War Relocation Center in Arkansas when that facility closed in 1944. It became Arizona's fourth-largest city, with a peak population of 13,348.

Some of the intended internees died en route to Gila River or shortly after arrival in the harsh desert environment. One of these was the mother of Iva Toguri, the American woman of Japanese descent who was later condemned as "Tokyo Rose" and convicted of treason due to perjured testimony.

Canal Camp Monument

Gila River was considered one of the least oppressive camps of its kind. It had only a single watchtower, and its fences were among the very few that lacked barbed wire. The administrators of the camps seemed to care for the evacuees, and allowed them access to the amenities of Phoenix, and recreational activities such as sports and arts. Butte camp contained a 6,000-seat baseball field, designed by Kenichi Zenimura, a professional baseball player, and considered to be the best in the WRA system. Internees also built a theater for plays and films, built playgrounds, and planted trees. Gila River had a communal medical facility at Butte Hospital. Canal Camp had 404 buildings with 232 barracks and 24 separate schoolhouses. Butte Camp contained 821 buildings with 627 residential barracks. These barracks were made of wood and fireproof shingles that blocked out the desert heat. Each barrack was made to house four single families in separate apartments. Unfortunately, the camp exceeded its capacity: it was designed for 10,000 residents, but held over 13,000. Because of this some families resorted to living in the mess hall or recreation buildings and used blankets as makeshift walls. Water shortages also plagued the camp, and poisonous rattlesnakes and scorpions kept Butte Hospital extremely busy.

As the land for the camp sites is owned by the Gila River Indian Tribe and is considered sacred by them, public access to the sites is currently restricted. Although all the main structures are long gone, some artifacts, such as the road grid, concrete slab foundations, manholes, cisterns, several rock alignments and dozens of small ponds, remain today.

On December 21, 2006, President Bush signed H.R. 1492 into law guaranteeing $38,000,000 in federal money to restore the Gila River relocation center along with nine other former Japanese internment camps. "H.R. 1492". 

Notable Gila River internees

Ruins of the buildings in the Gila River War Relocation Center of Camp Butte

Gallery

Historic Gila River War Relocation Center
The Gila River War Relocation Center was an internment camp built by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) for the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. The Gila River War Relocation Memorial is located at Indian Route 24, Sacaton, Az. 
Different view of the Gila River War Relocation Memorial located in a former internment camp built by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) for the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. 
The Gila River War Relocation Memorial on Butte Mountain. 
Ruins of the Gila River Japanese Relocation Internment Camp. 
Ruins of the Gila River Japanese Relocation Internment Camp. 
A concrete slab foundation of the Gila River War Relocation Center. 
Butte Camp Monument 

See also

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.