Interesting/unusual facts

Poston was named after Charles Debrille Poston, the first Superintendent for Indian Affairs in AZ. He established the Colorado River Reservation in 1865 where the center is located.

The Colorado River Indian Reservation Tribal Council opposed the use of their land for a relocation center, because they did not want to participate in inflicting the same type of injustice they had suffered. However, the Army and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) overruled the tribe. In a verbal agreement the War Relocation Authority (WRA) turned over administration of the center to the BIA until December 1943 when the WRA took full control of the center.

Poston Relocation Center consisted of three separate camps at 5-mile intervals (Poston I, II, III - nicknamed by internees Roasten, Toasten, and Dustin). Located at the end of a then dead-end road, a single fence surrounded the three camps and there were no guard towers.

Five thousand Del Webb-contracted workers on double work shifts completed Poston I construction in less than three weeks.

Extensive agricultural fields and developments were within the fenced security area.

Barracks had double roofs for insulation from the extreme desert heat.

Internees made adobe bricks for school buildings at each camp because sufficient lumber was not available. The elementary school auditorium they built at Poston I was listed on Arizona Preservation Foundation's Most Endangered Property List in 2001; it was destroyed by fire in August 2001.

In November 1942, two suspected informers were beaten and administrative officials arrested two Kibei men. Crowds demanded they be freed, workers went on strike, the police station was picketed. The protect ended peacefully as the Issei leaders of the protest saw things getting quickly out of hand and a compromise settlement was reached.

Twenty-four Japanese Americans held at Poston later lost their lives in World War II.

Land ownership
Entirely tribal. In 1945, the BIA recruited Navajo and Hopi families to settle in the valley. Some lived in the Poston barracks; 150 families ultimately settled on the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) Reservation and acquired farm allotments.

Special Designations
None.

Preservation and Interpretive Efforts
Along Mohave Road at Poston I, there is a large monument (dedicated on Oct. 6, 1992) and kiosk interpretive information discussing relocation history, Japanese American military service and the CRIT Reservation. The monument was designed and constructed by former internees and landscape architects on land donated by the CRIT. There is a dedication plaque by the Poston I elementary school.

The CRIT is currently developing the Poston Preservation Project, in conjunction with the Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego. Together, they will preserve existing buildings and recreate a sense of camp.

The Parker Area Historical Museum has an exhibit on Poston I, II, and III.

Public access to the site today
Drive approximately 24 miles south of the town of Parker on Mohave Road, which is on the CRIT Reservation paralleling the Colorado River. The camp remains can be seen about half a mile west of Mohave Road. Turn right in the center of Poston. Further south, there is a turnoff to Le Pera School where one can also see a school building (adjacent to the new Le Pera School buildings) which was part of Camp III. The remains of Hatch Center, the high school gymnasium that burned in 2001, can still be viewed.

Local Resources
Parker Area Historical Museum: 1214 California Ave., P.O. Box 1500, Parker, AZ 85344. Tel: 928-669-8077 and 928-669-6578.

Poston Preservation Project: Jon Villalobos, Director, Ahakhav Tribal Preserve, CRIT, Rt. 1, Box 23-B, Parker, AZ 85344. Tel: 928-669-2664.

Ruth Okimoto, Liaison to CRIT: 1012 Pardee Street, Berkeley, CA 94710-2628. Tel: 510-849-9374. E-mail: ryokimoto@attbi.com.

Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego: Custodian of Artifacts from Poston Camp I, II, and III. Don Estes, Historian, 22672 San Marcos Ave., San Diego, CA 92104-5034. Tel: 619-388-3651.

Arizona Historical Society Museum: 1300 North College Ave., Tempe, AZ 85281. Tel: 602-929-0292.

Selected Books
Bailey, Paul Dayton. City in the Sun: The Japanese Concentration Camp at Poston, Arizona. Los Angeles: Westernlore Press, 1979.

Nishimoto, Richard S. Inside an American Concentration Camp: Japanese American Resistance at Poston, Arizona. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Noguichi, Rick. Transforming Barbed Wire: The Incarceration of Japanese Americans in Arizona During World War II. Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona Humanities Council, 1997.

Okimoto, Ruth Y. Ph.D. Sharing a Desert Home: Life on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. Poston, Arizona 1942-1945. Berkeley, California; Malcolm Margolin. 2001.

Tajiri, Vincent (ed.) Through Innocent Eyes: Writings and Art from the Japanese American Internment by Poston I School Children. Los Angeles: Keiro Services Press and the Generations Fund, 1990.

Websites
www.library.arizona.edu/wracamps
Good background information and nearly forty War Relocation Authority images depicting Poston construction, arrival, work and social life.

www.si.edu/postal/far/far1.html
"Dear Miss Breed, Forwarding Address Required" Communications between a Caucasian teacher in San Diego and some of her Japanese American students. She received more than 250 letters from her students who ranged in age from four to twenty years old.

www.itcaonline.com/Tribes/colorado.htm
Introductory information and special events sponsored by the Colorado River Indian Tribes.