Haunted by Waters: A Journey through Race and Place in the American West

acknowledgments

This project was born in serendipity and continued to offer me unexpected rewards as I worked on it over the last several years. It led me down many dusty gravel roads in Idaho, to archives across the country, and into relationships that were its greatest rewards. I wish to thank my mentors: Judith Davidov, whose unwavering support allowed me always to write with my ear; Joe Skerrett for his pithy insights and the many wonderful meals we have shared; David Glassberg for convincing a poet that he could write history; and Jules Chametzky for being the all-around mensch that he is. I also owe the many Idahoans who welcomed me and aided in my research : the Idaho Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) chapters, Masa and Midori Tsukamoto, Mary Fujii Henshall and her family, and Alan Virta and Mary Carpenter-Hepworth at Boise State University’s Special Collections Department. Thanks also to Robert Sims, Priscilla Wegars, and the staff at the Idaho State Historical Society, who streamlined my searching and answered all of my obvious questions. I also wish to thank the staff of the National Archives, the Bancroft Library, Twin Falls Public Library, and the College of Southern Idaho Library. For granting permission to reprint works, I thank Philip White, Rutgers University Press, Brooding Heron Press, Lonny Kaneko, Phyllis Okada Kacher, Kay Yokoyama , Jane Shaw Karlson, Steve Earle, and the Nez Perce Tribe. Also, a big mahalo to the staff of the National Park Service’s Pacific West Region, especially Neil King, Anna Hosticka Tamura, and Frank Hays. For their help in tracking down permissions, my thanks to Wing Tek Lum, Joanna Lau, Kats Fujita, Mary Masugi, and Vicki Blackwell. Finally, for sharing fishing advice and stories, thanks to Clayne Baker, the folks at the Idaho Angler, the Riverkeeper, Silver Creek Outfitters, and the Bent Rod. Holly Carver has proven herself a writer’s best friend, embracing my work’s unique character and helping guide me through a daunting process . I also want to thank Wayne Franklin and the outside reviewer for their generous comments and everyone at Iowa who had a hand in this project. acknowledgments acknowledgments Lastly, I wish to thank my family for their love and support, especially my mother for all that she has provided me, her dilling. Thanks always to Angelo Robinson, Albert Turner, and Leanne White, who helped me get through those long graduate school years, and to Fred Siewers for memories made on Western waters. Finally, I owe the most to my wife, Wendy Bergoffen, who has read numerous revisions, offered insightful suggestions , tolerated my quirky mania, and in general, been the best partner in life that one could imagine. “Answer the Call” by Mas Okada, from Hunt Hi-Lites, October 1, 1943, used by permission of Phillis Okada Kacher. “Family Album” by Lonny Kaneko, from Coming Home from Camp (Waldron, Washington: Brooding Heron Press, 1984), used by permission of the publisher. “In the Outhouse” by Mitsuye Yamada, from Camp Notes and Other Poems (Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1998), used by permission of the publisher. Lines from “Seed” by Philip White, from Harvest: Contemporary Mormon Poems edited by Eugene England and Dennis Clark (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), used by permission of Philip White. Quotations from personal interviews with Masa and Midori Tsukamoto used by permission of Masa and Midori Tsukamato. Selections from Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records, BANC MSS 67/14, used by permission of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Untitled poems by Henry H. and Fumiko Fujii used by permission of Ed Fujii. Untitled tanka poem by Sojin Takei, from Poets behind Barbed Wire, edited by Jiro Nakano and Kay Nakano (Honolulu: Bamboo Ridge Press, 1984), used by permission of the publisher. xiv HauntedbyWaters ...