Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites

Chapter 10: Poston Relocation Center, Arizona

Chapter 10 Poston Relocation Center The Poston or Colorado River Relocation Center was located in La Paz County, Arizona, 12 miles south ofthe town of Parker. Poston was named after Charles Debrille Poston, the first Superintendent for Indian Mfairs in Arizona. Poston was directly responsible for the establishment, in 1865, of the Colorado River Reservation, where the center is located (Figure 10.1). La Paz County is a fairly recent political entity; during World War II the Poston area was part ofYuma County. The Colorado River is about 2112 miles west of the relocation center; this section of the Colorado River Valley from the relocation center vicinity north to Parker Qam is known as Parker Valley. At only 320 feet elevation, the area lies within the lower Sonoran desert. Summers are hot, and, because of the proximity of the river, humid; in the winter days are cool and nights cold. The Colorado River Indian Reservation Tribal Council opposed the 215 use oftheir land for a relocation center, on the grounds that they did not want to participate in inflicting the same type of injustice as they had suffered. However, the tribe was overruled by the Army and the Bureau ofIndian Affairs (BIA). In averbal agreement the WRA turned over administration ofthe center to the BIA. The BIA considered the relocation center an opportunity to develop farm land on the reservation with the benefit ofmilitary funds and a large labor pool. The WRA did not take full control of the Poston Relocation Center until December 1943. The Poston Relocation Center consisted ofthree separate cantonments at three-mile intervals. Known officially as Poston I, II, and III, the evacuees nicknamed them Roasten, Toasten, and Dustin. Construction on Poston I began March 27,1942, with the contractor Del Webb, later of Sun City fame. Del Webb had a large work force already mobilized for military contracts, and built Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix in March 1941. However, the relocation center was Del Figure 10.1. Colorado River Indian Reservation (National Archives). 216 Webb's biggest challenge up to that time. Webb had a construction job in progress at Blythe, and when he got the contract to build the camps he diverted his crew to Parker. With equipment brought up from Blythe, the initial ground clearing was done in one day (Figure 10.2). Using 5,000 workers on a double work shift, Poston I was completed in less than three weeks (Figures 10.3-10.5). The pine specified for construction was in short supply, so heart redwood was substituted. When the redwood shrunk much more than expected, millions offeet ofthin wood strips had to be ordered to fill the cracks (Finnerty 1991). Because of the heat in Arizona, the standard tarpaper barracks construction was modified so that the buildings had double roofs. A new contract was awarded to Webb to build Poston II and III within 120 days (Finnerty 1991). Guard towers were not constructed at Poston, as they were at the other relocation centers; here they were considered unnecessary because ofthe isolated location, in the desert at the end of a road. The relocation center began operation May 8, 1942, with the arrival of 11 Japanese-American volunteers. Within days there were 250 more volunteers, who cleaned up and prepared the barracks for the arrival ofover 7000 evacuees over the next three weeks (Leighton 1945). The maximum population for all three cantonments was 17,814, reached in September 1942. Poston was the largest relocation center in the country, and the third largest city in Arizona. Evacuees were from the Mayer, Salinas, Santa Anita, and Pinedale assembly centers. By the fall of 1942 heating stoves had not yet been installed, so barracks and offices were unheated, and extremely cold without wallboard or insulation. Evacuees huddled around makeshift bonfires within each block for warmth. In addition, promised clothing and clothing allowances had not been delivered, and salaries had not been paid since September. Adding insult to injury, government resources Figure 10.2. Poston site partially cleared (Clem Albers photograph, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley). Figure 10.3. Rolls of roofing paper at the Poston site (Clem Albers photograph, Bancroft Library, University ofCalifornia , Berkeley). 217 Figure 10.4. Unloading lumber at the Poston site (Fred Clark photograph, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley). Figure 10.5. Construction underway at Poston I (Fred Clark photograph, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley...