The
Granada War Relocation Center (also
Camp Amache) was a
Japanese American internmentJapanese American internment refers to the forcible relocation and internment in 1942 of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese residing in the United States to housing facilities called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The internment of...
camp located in southeast
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
about a mile west of the small farming community of
GranadaGranada is a Statutory Town in Prowers County, Colorado, United States. The population was 640 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Granada is located at ....
, south of US 50.
The camp was listed on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on May 18, 1994, and designated a
National Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance. All NHLs are listed in the National Register of Historic Places...
on February 10, 2006.
The Center was one of ten that were created by the administration of President
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , the only U.S. President elected to more than two terms, was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
The
Granada War Relocation Center (also
Camp Amache) was a
Japanese American internmentJapanese American internment refers to the forcible relocation and internment in 1942 of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese residing in the United States to housing facilities called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The internment of...
camp located in southeast
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
about a mile west of the small farming community of
GranadaGranada is a Statutory Town in Prowers County, Colorado, United States. The population was 640 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Granada is located at ....
, south of US 50.
The camp was listed on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on May 18, 1994, and designated a
National Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance. All NHLs are listed in the National Register of Historic Places...
on February 10, 2006.
History
The Center was one of ten that were created by the administration of President
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , the only U.S. President elected to more than two terms, was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The camp opened in August 1942 and had a maximum population of 7318 persons.
Nearly all of those interned at the camp came from the
West CoastThe "West Coast", "Western Seaboard", or "Pacific Coastline" are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. It most often comprises California, Oregon and Washington...
of the U.S., mostly from the
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
area. Each person was only allowed to bring one bag, therefore, many people were forced to sell what they could or give away their possessions before being forced out. This also included pets.
The camp's unofficial name quickly became Camp Amache, named after a
Cheyenne IndianCheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taa'e and the Tsé-tsêhéstâhese , which translates to "those like us". The name Cheyenne derives from Dakota Sioux Šahíyena, meaning "little Šahíya"...
chief's daughter, the wife of John Prowers (the county where Camp Amache is located is named after Prowers). This name change was due to a mail mix-up between the town of Granada and the camp.
The Camp Amache residential area is spread across a low hill, which prevented the flooding and mud problems which plagued other internment camps. It was surrounded by barbed-wire fencing, with eight machine-gun towers located all around the camp. However, all eight towers were rarely manned at one time, and the guns were never used. The camp had a police department which was actually worked by Japanese Americans living at the camp. Colorado Governor
Ralph Lawrence CarrRalph Lawrence Carr was Governor of Colorado from 1939 to 1943. Born in Rosita in Custer County, he grew up in Cripple Creek in Teller County and graduated from Cripple Creek High School in 1905. A Republican, Carr was committed to fiscal restraint in state government and opposed the New Deal...
was one of the few to welcome the Japanese to Colorado, going against the current anti-Japanese sentiment of the times.
Camp leaders, internees themselves, set up a separate
Amache District for
Boy ScoutsScouting in Colorado has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the rugged, mountainous environment in which they live.-Early history :Scouting got a brisk start in Colorado...
at the camp. These Scouts still flew the American flag, notwithstanding the treatment they and their families had received from the government, as seen in the photograph at left of a Boy Scout
Memorial DayMemorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May . Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service...
parade at the camp.
Sources indicate that the high school
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
team lost one game in three years. One noteworthy event was when the Amache football team played the undefeated football team from Holly, Colorado, which is located just east of Amache on U.S. 50. This game was unique because Holly actually agreed to come up to the camp and play Amache on their home field. One of the Holly team players was
Roy RomerRoy R. Romer was the 39th Governor of Colorado and served as the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2001 to 2006.-Family & Education:...
, who went on to become Governor of Colorado. The Amache team won this game by a score of 7-0, the only touchdown coming from a trick play, thus the Amache team can claim to be undefeated on their own field.
Present-day
Today the camp is a lonely, desolate place on the high prairie, covered by scrubby vegetation and small cacti. All but one of the buildings were removed, many having been sold at auction and hauled off. The sole remaining original building is a pumphouse beside the main water tank, both of which are still in use. Cement foundations of most of the buildings remain, and the site is largely undisturbed, though the land was sold at auction (rather than being returned to the original owners). Signs have been posted to show locations of schools, laundries, dining halls, clinics,
fire stationA fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
, etc. The highway signs identify the site only as Camp Amache
http://amache.org.
In the southwest corner of the camp is a small cemetery and memorial dedicated to the Japanese Americans from there who volunteered to fight in Europe in World War II. Nisei from all the camps were in the
442nd Regimental Combat TeamThe 442nd Infantry, formerly the 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army, was an Asian American unit composed of mostly Japanese Americans who fought in Europe during the Second World War. The families of many of its soldiers were subject to internment...
, the most decorated unit of its size in American military history. A large stone memorial with men's names engraved in it sits in the cemetery in memory of those who died defending the U.S. in the 442nd. The graves at the cemetery are only of children who died while at the camp.
Since 1990, the Amache Preservation Society, a Granada high school group, has worked on preservation of the site and its documents.. As a school project,
Granada Undivided High SchoolGranada Undivided High School is the high school serving Granada, Colorado. As of the 2004-05 school year, the school served 122 students in grades 7-12....
students have set up a museum for the Granada War Relocation Center.
On December 21, 2006, President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
signed H.R. 1492 into law guaranteeing $38,000,000 in federal money to restore the Granada relocation center and nine other former Japanese internment camps.
Notable Granada internees
- Robert S. Hamada
Robert Hamada is the Edward Eagle Brown Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and former Dean of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business....
(born 1937), is the Edward Eagle Brown Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and former Dean of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
- Mike Honda
Michael Makoto Honda is an American Democratic politician. He currently serves as Congressman for California's 15th congressional district, which encompasses western San Jose and the Silicon Valley...
(born 1941), an American politician.
- Lawson Fusao Inada
Lawson Fusao Inada is an American poet and is currently the poet laureate of the U.S. state of Oregon.-Early life:...
(born 1938), an American poet. Also interned at JeromeThe Jerome War Relocation Center was a Japanese American internment camp located in southeastern Arkansas near the tiny town of Jerome. Open from October 1942 until June 1944, it was the last relocation camp to open and the first to close; at one point it contained as many as 8,497 inhabitants.,...
.
- Yasuhiro Ishimoto
Ishimoto was born on 14 June 1921 in San Francisco, California, where his parents were farmers. In 1924, the family left the United States and returned to his parents' hometown within present-day Tosa, in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan...
(born 1921), an influential photographer.
- Kiyoshi K. Muranaga
Kiyoshi K. Muranaga was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.-Biography:...
(1922–1944), a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the Medal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on a member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while...
.
- Arthur Okamura
Arthur Okamura was an American artist, working in screen printing, drawing and painting. He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was Professor Emeritus at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, California...
(1932–2009), an American artist.
- George Yuzawa (born 1915), an activist.
See also
- Gila River War Relocation Center
The Gila River War Relocation Center was an internment camp built by the War Relocation Authority for internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. It was located about southeast of Phoenix, Arizona....
- Heart Mountain War Relocation Center
The Heart Mountain Relocation Center, named after nearby Heart Mountain Butte, was one of ten internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese Americans excluded from the West Coast during World War II under the provisions of Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
- Jerome War Relocation Center
The Jerome War Relocation Center was a Japanese American internment camp located in southeastern Arkansas near the tiny town of Jerome. Open from October 1942 until June 1944, it was the last relocation camp to open and the first to close; at one point it contained as many as 8,497 inhabitants.,...
- Manzanar National Historic Site
Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California's Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine to the south and Independence to the north, it is...
- Minidoka National Historic Site
- Poston War Relocation Center
The Poston War Relocation Center, located in Yuma County of Arizona, was the largest of the ten American internment camps operated by the War Relocation Authority during World War II....
- Rohwer War Relocation Center
The Rohwer War Relocation Center was a World War II Japanese American internment camp located in rural southeastern Arkansas, in Desha County. It was in operation from September 18, 1942 until November 30, 1944, and held as many as 8,475 Japanese Americans forcibly evacuated from California...
- Topaz War Relocation Center
- Tule Lake War Relocation Center
Tule Lake Segregation Center National Monument was an internment camp in the northern California town of Newell near Tule Lake. It was used in the Japanese American internment during World War II. It was one of the largest and most controversial of the camps, and did not close until after the war,...
- Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project
' is an award-winning nonprofit organization based in Seattle, Washington, which collects video oral histories and documents regarding Japanese American internment in the United States during World War II...
External links