Cover Page

Table of Contents

Abstract

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Essay

Brief History

Gila River

Granada

Heart Mountain

Jerome

Manzanar

Minidoka

Poston

Rohwer

Topaz

Tule Lake

Isolation Centers

Add'l Facilities

Assembly Centers

DoJ and US Army Facilities

Prisons

References

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites by J. Burton, M. Farrell, F. Lord, and R. Lord

Chapter 8 (continued)
Manzanar Relocation Center

Outlying Area
Water System and Reservoir

A dam on Shepherd Creek, 1-1/2 miles northwest of the central area, diverted water into an earthen ditch to the relocation center reservoir and settling basin, 1/2 mile northwest of the central area.

The concrete reservoir consists of a 120-foot-by-180-foot concrete-lined pool (Figure 8.99). To raise the water level a low stone and concrete wall was added by an evacuee work crew in February 1943. Several inscriptions were made in the wet concrete of the low cap wall. These include Japanese characters, names and dates, and the notation "stone wall by emergency crew 2/25/43" made of embedded pebbles. A large boulder along a dirt road on the west side of the reservoir was plastered with a thin layer of cement and inscribed while wet with the Japanese characters for "peace" (Figure 8.100).

A concrete-lined settling basin, approximately 75 foot by 80 foot, is located adjacent to the reservoir (Figure 8.101). On the east end there is a concrete wall with an opening to the reservoir and a spillway for bypassing the reservoir. Several areas along the wall have bottle caps pressed into the concrete and three groups of inscriptions were made while the concrete was wet. All Japanese characters, they have been translated as "the army of the emperor occupied territory, 2/17/43, to Manzanar," "banzai, the Great Japanese Empire, Manzanar Black Dragon Group headquarters," and "beat Great Britain and the USA" (Figures 8.102 and 8.103). During the relocation center occupation the inscriptions would have been under water most of the time.

A concrete- and rock-lined ditch directed water from a sand trap to the settling basin. Numerous inscriptions were made on top of the ditch wall and sand trap while the concrete was wet. Included are names, dates, Japanese characters, and the notation "constructed by chodo & inc. nov. 9 43" (Figures 8.104-8.106).

A concrete slab approximately 7 foot by 10 foot at the northwest corner of the reservoir was the foundation of a chlorination shed. A storeroom shown on WRA blueprints is indicated by wire nails, window glass, roofing, and scattered fragments of drywall and wood.

Figure 8.107. Concrete slab foundation of the chlorination tank.

Below the reservoir, nearly 3 miles of open concrete- and rock-lined ditches and buried concrete pipelines, several concrete weir boxes, the ten-sided 30-foot-diameter concrete slab foundation of the chlorination tank (Figure 8.107), and other water system features remain. All of the ditches are easy to follow, although many sections are damaged or silted in. The largest ditch segment, which originally held a steel pipeline, ran from the relocation center reservoir to the chlorination tank. All of the pipe has been removed.

Other ditches carried part of the water from the main pipe alignment to irrigate victory gardens within the central area of the relocation center. The ditches average 3 foot wide at the top and 1 foot wide at the bottom and are 1-1/2 feet deep. Segments of concrete pipe were used to span washes. On the west side of the chlorination tank foundation there is a concrete-lined ditch inscribed with names, dates, and Japanese characters.

Photo Album

Continued

Last Modified: Mon, Sep 17 2001 07:08:48 pm PDT
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