Japanese-American Internment - CAMP POSTON

After he was forced to leave his home, Tom Tanaka—together with thousands of other Japanese-Americans—arrived at an internment camp, in Arizona, known as Poston. Tom created this painting of the Poston Camp on May 17, 1942. It is online via Wikimedia Commons; license:  CC BY-SA 3.0.

According to the National Archives, the Poston, Arizona internment camp was located "on the Colorado River Indian Reservation." In these War Relocation photographs, the site is "partially developed." Perhaps a river is nearby, but it isn’t noticeable in these pictures.

• The highway leading to Poston marked the camp as a "Prohibited" military area.
  
  
• Japanese-Americans registered at Poston when they first arrived at the camp.
  
  
• Evacuees served as welders, assistant doctors, firemen and local police at Poston.
  
  
• Hastily constructed barracks, covered with rolls of roofing material, eventually served as shelter for more than 17,000 people forced to leave their own homes and resettle at dusty Poston.
  
  
• On arrival at the camp, people created mattresses with straw sticks and slept on beds in very close quarters. Shower facilities were primitive and communal.
  
  
• It was hot at Poston, so ice from a thermos helped to provide some relief from the heat.
  
  
• Children play, and read, wherever they are.
  
  
• Evacuees created a garden area at Poston and enjoyed outdoor musical concerts.

Families sent to Minidoka, Idaho found themselves in a much different climate. There, children played in the snow instead of the desert.