Pinedale (detention facility)

The site had formerly been a lumber yard run by the Sugar Pine Lumber Company, then a mill-worker housing complex. The WCCA acquired the property from the Valley Compress Company of Merced. The eight-acre site came to include 269 buildings, including about 200 barracks, all built new in two weeks. The camp was divided into five blocks, designated "A" through "E," with each containing forty barracks, along with two mess halls, and laundry, wash and latrine buildings. ^[1]

The barracks were each 20 x 100 feet and subdivided into smaller "apartments" in a manner that anticipated the barracks in the later War Relocation Authority (WRA) administered camps. Some of the barracks had concrete floors and some had asphalt. The former seemed to be have been considered more desirable as it was easier to keep cool, often by splashing water on it. The asphalt on the other hand, was prone to softening in the heat, and inmates recalled cots and other furniture sinking into it. In a May 28 report, the center director wrote that that asphalt was "a constant source of complaint relative to sticking to shoes, bed posts sinking and obnoxious odor." Among other problems in the barracks cited in this report are the absence of screens in the windows and the lack of additional electrical outlets "for radios, electric irons and other miscellaneous electric equipments," which created a fire hazard when all of these were plugged into the single outlet provided for the light. ^[2]

Cots were the only furniture provided by the army, one to a person. About half of the inmates received mattresses, while the other half—generally the later arrivals—received tick mattresses that they had to stuff with straw. In the May 28 report, the center director wrote that this caused a fair amount of dissatisfaction, and that those who received the ticks filed "many complaints to the doctor that they have hay-fever in an attempt to acquire mattresses." ^[3]

Each block had a laundry room with twenty-four sets of hot and cold water faucets, along with scrub boards and soap. Each block also had four bathhouses and six latrines. As in most other assembly centers, there were no partitions in the shower rooms or in the latrines. The resulting lack of privacy was a hallmark of assembly center life. As Kiyo Sato wrote in her 2007 memoir, "I stand by the corner of our barrack trying to appear nonchalant, but in truth, I am miserable. How can I sit in the latrine between all those people, or have my back against a stranger? What am I going to do?" ^[4]

The latrines themselves consisted of wooden platforms with holes cut in them suspended over a metal trough. "A faucet at one end of the row of toilets dripped water constantly into a trough," wrote Mary Matsuda Gruenewald in her 2005 memoir. She continues

The water ran below and slightly behind the toilet holes. I quickly learned to recognize when the sound of the dripping water got to a certain pitch; this meant enough water had accumulated to make the trough tip. That would force enough water to 'flush' the contents down to the other end and into the sewer below. The first time I had to go to the bathroom I didn't know this. I got an unwelcome splash of cold water all over my bottom. Never again. ^[5]

Eventually, the inmates got used to the workings of the latrine and made adjustments:

... everyone inside paid close attention to the sound of the dripping water while they sat on the toilets. When it reached that certain pitch, everyone silently raised their rear ends in unison while the contents were flushed away. Solemnly everyone resumed their previous positions. That moment made me chuckle in spite of the circumstances. ^[6]

There were two mess halls in each block, a total of ten, though initially only nine were operational due to the lack of equipment. In the May 28 narrative report, the center manager wrote that since the inmates largely came from agricultural background, "there was not a professional cook in all of the evacuees inducted." The mess halls were also plagued with long lines initially, but in June, a system of colored tags with assigned eating shift times—three per meal—helped to alleviate this problem. ^[7]

The Central California heat was a fundamental part of the Pinedale experience, especially for the Pacific Northwesterners who were not used to it. "When the thermometer jumped to 120 and 125°F. it was hard to be energetic enough for anything because it was a full-time job just keeping your face dry," wrote Kiku Tomita in a 1944 essay. "Many people fainted while standing in mess line," she added. "Oh, man, it was hot. Remember, we're from the mild, cool, breezy if not wet Pacific Northwest, and this is in May which is, still relatively mild good weather actually in Hood River," recalled Homer Yasui in a 2003 interview. "So we go down 100,000 miles whatever it is to Fresno, California, and we get off a train, and man, it's like a furnace, just blazing hot. The sun is a ball of fire up there, and there's no shade." ^[8]

The bulk of the population—about 85%—of the Pinedale Assembly Center came from the Pacific Northwest. Whereas most assembly centers were located close to areas where their populations were forcibly removed from, the inmates at Pinedale had to travel as far as 1,000 miles to get there. For this group, the trip involved a four-day train ride to the Fresno area. A relatively small group from north Sacramento rounded out the population at Pinedale. ^[9]

The first few inmates arrived at Pinedale on May 7, 1942, and more trickled in over the next two days. Larger groups from communities east of Seattle such as Renton and Issaquah arrived from May 10 to 13, followed by a group from Hood River, Oregon, on May 14. Groups from Tacoma and other parts of King County outside of Seattle proper arrived from May 18 to 24. The 700 or so in the Sacramento group were the last to arrive after May 30. ^[10]

Population by Exclusion Order

Exclusion Order #	Deadline	Location	Number
39	May 11	Central King County: Renton, Kent, Issaquah	989
49	May 13	Hood River	551
67	May 18	Tacoma	868
68	May 16	Kitsap and Pierce Counties	166
79	May 22	King County south of the Green River	1,016
80	May 20	North King County: Kirkland, Redmond	458
95	May 30	North Sacramento and West El Dorado County	718

Source: John L. Dewitt, Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942 (Washington D.C.: U.S. Army, Western Defense Command), 363–66. Exclusion orders with fewer than thirty inductees not listed. Deadline dates come from the actual exclusion order posters, which can be found in The Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement: A Digital Archive, Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley, http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/jarda/ucb/text/cubanc6714_b016b01_0001_1.pdf and http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/jarda/ucb/text/cubanc6714_b016b01_0001_2.pdf .

Arrivals to Pinedale

Arrival Date	Number
May 7	10
May 8	10
May 9	16
May 10	138
May 12	448
May 13	396
May 14	549
May 18	161
May 19	418
May 20	441
May 22	456
May 23	540
May 24	460

Source: Management Section, p. 2, Narrative Report, 1.134 Report, Narrative, May 28, 1942, 1.1 Center Manager: Subject File, !. General File, Reel 37, NARA San Bruno. Note that the Sacramento/El Dorado County group arrived after this report and are thus not represented in this table.

That the majority of the population came from so far away had a couple of impacts at Pinedale. As noted above, the Pacific Northwesterners were not used to the heat of a Central Valley summer, which made life particularly difficult for some. Whereas the policy towards visitors became a major issue at some of the other assembly centers, given that friends or family of the inmates lived nearby, there were relatively few visitors at Pinedale, given that most Pacific Northwesterners had few local contacts. ^[11]

As at many other camps, some friction broke out between populations from different regions, in particular between the Pacific Northwesterners and the Sacramentans. In his 1967 memoir, Daisuke Kitagawa wrote that after the Sacramento group arrived, "the atmosphere of the camp became rather tense, for antagonism arose between the Californians and the Northwesterners, though all were of Japanese descent." He cites a number of reasons for the tension. Since the Pacific Northwesterners had arrived first, the Sacramentans felt they had received preferential treatment with regard to barrack assignments and being grouped close to friends and family. The Northwesterners felt that the Sacramentans were more "Japanesey," having lived in more concentrated communities. In her contemporaneous memoir, Kiku Tomita wrote that after the arrival of the Sacramentans, that "we didn't get along so well together although I got to know a few who I thought were nice." ^[12]

Pinedale was open for a total of 78 days, though most were there one to two weeks less than that. The peak population was 4,792 on June 29. There were five births and six deaths. ^[13]

By and large, the Pacific Northwest people were assigned to Tule Lake and the Sacramentans to Poston. The first transfers to WRA camps took place on July 15 to Tule Lake, with groups of about 500 leaving daily for Tule Lake for the next five days. The Poston bound groups left on July 21, with the last group for Tule Lake leaving on July 23. ^[14]

Departures

Departure Date	Camp	Number
July 15	Tule Lake	501
July 16	Tule Lake	503
July 17	Tule Lake	508
July 18	Tule Lake	515
July 19	Tule Lake	513
July 20	Tule Lake	515
July 21	Poston	345
July 21	Poston	350
July 22	Tule Lake	510
July 22	Gila River	40
July 23	Tule Lake	446

Source: John L. Dewitt, Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942 (Washington D.C.: U.S. Army, Western Defense Command), 282–84.

Block C was the first to go, followed by D, E, B and A. ^[15]

As was true at many of the assembly centers, a good portion of the staffing came from the ranks of the WPA, including camp manager Fred P. Hauck. Hauck arrived at Pinedale on April 7 and began setting up the headquarters then. He remained the manager for the life of the camp. In his memoir, Kitagawa recalled Hauck as "a big, tall fellow who sounded tough and officious but was a soft-hearted and even sentimental person inside." ^[16]

Other key staff:

Service director: George H. King
Recreation director: Carl Bengston
Works director: Daniel C. Roberts
Director of mess and lodging: William H. Weller
Chief steward: Leo A. Davenport
Field property accounts section officer: Frank L. Brault
Supervisor of supplies: Donald H. McQueen
Fire chief: James B. Middleton
Police chief: Al G. Johns
Store manager: Harry Thurston

Besides Hauck, McQueen, Roberts, Weller, and King—along with many other lower level staff—had come from the WPA. ^[17]

Given the brief lifespan of the camp, there was less activity in many realms that at other assembly centers.

An advisory board and center council that included representatives from all five blocks existed and met at least a few times. It appears this group was appointed. The initial group included chairman of the center council Jobu Yasumura, vice-chairman George Watanabe; treasurer Kumeo Yoshinari; and secretary Fumi Sato. A July 6 memo indicated a "complete change made in the self-government of evacuees, effective as of July 1, 1942"; the new group appointed by Hauck included new chairman Theodore Teruo Nakamura, 30, from Tacoma; Kuemo Art Yoshinari, 29, from The Dalles; George Masumura, 34, from Christopher, Wash.; Frank Satoru Nakanishi, 27, from Renton, Wash.; and George Tsuyoshi Watanabe, 28 from Fife, Wash. The change came about because the initial chairman, Yasumura, was Issei; he was forced to resign when the WCCA office subsequently banned Issei participation in any form of community government. All members of both councils were from the Pacific Northwest. ^[18]

Given the short life span of the camp with the population entering in May just as schools were letting out, there little in the way of formal schooling set up here. The lone exception seems to have been a kindergarten that was running by mid-June that had an initial enrollment of fifty students under the supervision of Iku Nishikawa. ^[19]

As at several of the other assembly centers, a graduation ceremony was held for graduating high school seniors who missed their actual graduations back home. But whereas in many cases, school officials from the schools the Nisei actually attended came to nearby assembly centers to present diplomas, no officials from the Pacific Northwest could attend. Pinedale Service Director George King handed out the diplomas as a result. ^[20]

The May 28 report indicated that medical facilities were woefully insufficient: "... facilities for adequate hospitalization of more than twenty persons was impossible, and for this number we were able to provide only beds, linen, and a reasonable amount of sanitary facilities. Drug supplies and ordinary medication for the treatment of simple diseases was not available." ^[21]

Dr. Hugo Okonogi, a doctor from Fresno, was appointed physician in charge. With one other doctor, one R.N. and three other nurses, they made up the entire hospital staff. "With the arrival of our first group of evacuees we were confronted immediately by the fact that our hospital facilities and staff were completely inadequate to meet the situation....," read the May 28 report. "Both doctors and nurses have been on duty 24 hours a day, and we urgently request and recommend that if it is at all possible, we be provided some source, either Japanese or non-Japanese of additional professional assistance." ^[22]

The report also indicated that the three dentists also lacked equipment and facilities and "have been unable to as yet to do none but simple treatments, and it will be a matter of a short time before this situation becomes extremely acute." In a 1980 oral history, one of the dentists, George Suda—like Okonogi, a local from Fresno specifically assigned to the camp—recalled that due to the lack of equipment, he was allowed to go back to his Fresno office—under FBI escort—to get instruments and supplies for the camp. ^[23]

By the time the camp closed, the situation seems to have been somewhat alleviated, as the Logger reported that there were three hospitals in the camp. More serious cases were transferred out to the Fresno General Hospital. Upon the closing of the camp, Okonogi was transferred to the Merced Assembly Center. ^[24]

The library opened at the end of June in Block B under the leadership of librarians Florence and Chie Ogino, young Nisei sisters from Tacoma. There were about 500 fiction and 200 non-fiction books, along with several hundred textbooks and magazines. Camp administrators had earlier requested that the library be a branch of the Fresno County system, but the Fresno Board of Supervisors refused to allow this. Books were provided by the faculty of Fresno State College and the Fresno Ministerial Association. ^[25]

Nine issues of the Pinedale Logger ranging in length from four to sixteen pages appeared between May 23, 1942 and July 14, 1942 and kept camp inmates abreast of news in the camp. Like other assembly center newspapers, the Logger was subject to approval and censorship by camp administrators. The name of the newspaper is a reference to the site of the camp having been a lumber yard.

The first four-page issue of the Logger appeared on May 23, 1942. The lead articles included stories on the camp elections and on the various groups arriving at the camp and subsequent issues highlighted announcements from the administration, big social events such as popular amateur talent shows and sports results, and, before too long, the logistics of leaving the camp for the longer term concentration camps. The paper's editor was G. T. Watanabe, who had been the English section editor for the North American Times in Seattle prior to the war. Like other camp papers, the tone is generally breezy and optimistic despite the setting. A recurring feature of the paper, a "Huzzahs and Boos" column that singles out items for praise or criticism contains far more of the former, with the last two columns including none of the latter, the name of the last having been changed to "Huzzahs and Huzzahs." Other recurring columns included editor G. T. Watanabe's "Saw-Dust," Ken Hayashi's "Morning Breeze," sports editor Hideo Hoshide's "Sports-Log," and "Parade," which highlights events from other "assembly centers." The paper included cartoons by Masami Sado and Tom Nishimura, the latter coming up with a sombrero-clad camp mascot named "Dusty." The paper was produced out of an office in A 3-5 and was mimeographed. The last issue appeared on July 14, 1942, and was dedicated to Fred P. Hauck, center manager, and George H. King, service director, each of whom authored a brief farewell message on the last page. ^[26]

Christian services were set up by the end of May with one Episcopalian minister and two Methodist ministers sharing a barrack that had been set aside as a church. There is no record of Buddhist services being held, due in part to the fact that most Buddhist clergy had been separately interned. ^[27]

As at most of the camps, sports leagues were a highlight of camp life. Softball was the most popular sport with over forty teams taking part in the Twilight League. There were thirteen AA teams, which all seemed to be prewar locality based (e.g. Tacoma Crusaders), along with twenty Class Aye and nine Class C teams. On the women's side, there were eight senior teams, seven junior teams, and seven Class B teams, a total of 22. Sumo began in late June, with a sumo ring being built behind the Block A hospital. Issei enjoyed Go and Shogi tournaments. Hobby clubs in such pastimes as wood carving, needlecraft, and painting also formed. ^[28]

The store opened on May 21 in three "apartments" of a barrack. As of May 28, there were twenty-four inmate staffers who worked under the supervision of store manager Harry Thurston. Store merchandise included carbonated drinks, ice cream, candy, cigarettes, tobacco, matches, and newspapers. ^[29]

From mid-June, visitors were allowed in the Visitors Hall from 2 to 4 pm daily. Permission had to be requested beforehand and permits for would-be visitors mailed out. ^[30]

The Post Office was in two units in the same building as the store. A postal clerk came from Fresno every morning at 8:30 carrying the mail for the camp. A managing clerk and nine assistants—all inmates—staffed the PO, sorting and delivering the mail. The office was open from around 9 am to 2 pm and sold stamps and money orders. ^[31]

The Fire Department included three white firemen and 20 inmates. Patrols of five covered the camp twenty-four hours a day, with one of the white firemen in command at all times. ^[32]

A Social Welfare Board staffed by five appointed inmates was set up. "To this group come all problems of the camp which have to do with matters of housing, complaints, requests for various other types of personal services, etc."; they serve as a "'buffer' between the evacuees generally and the center manager." ^[33]

April 7
Manager Fred P. Hauck arrives and sets up headquarters. The camp is about 75% completed at this time.

May 7
The first few inmates arrive at Pinedale.

May 18
The first death at Pinedale. Masaya Hirasawa of Hood River suffers a cerebral hemorrhage at Fresno General Hospital. She had arrived at Pinedale four days prior.

May 21
The center store opens under the leadership of Harry Thurston.

May 23
First issue of the Pinedale Logger is published.

June 3
Center Council elections take place. Elected as chairmen of the blocks were G. T. Watanabe (Block A); Kumeo Yoshinari (B); Jobu Yasumura (C); Frank Nakanishi (D); Ted Nakamura (E). Of the 25 total representatives, 18 are Nisei, 7 Issei. 1,446 ballots were cast out of 3,215 eligible voters. Yasumura would later be elected as chairman of the Pinedale Advisory Board, while Ted Nakamura would later replaces Yasumura as chair after the WCCA decreed that only Nisei could hold office. (It is not noted what happened to the other Issei reps.)

June 9
Daily roll calls begin. Executed by the Advisory Board members and other volunteers, the counts initially take place every evening at 6 pm.

June 10
The first baby born to parents at the camp, to Masayoshi and Sachi Otsuka of Tacoma. June M., their fifth child, was born at 8:30 PM and weighed 7 lb.

June 26
Sixteen men are arrested in gambling raid, with "money and dice" confiscated.

June 28
The first baby actually born in the camp, Hisako Moriguchi, arrives at the C Hospital. The 4th baby born to parents at the center, she is the first to actually be born there, the other three having been born at the Fresno Hospital.

June 30
The first contingent of eleven beet workers leave for Northern Utah; a second group of 31 leave for Ogden on July 3.

July 2
Graduation ceremony for about 100 graduating high school seniors takes place. George King, service director, hands out the diplomas. About 90 high school and college grads received diplomas; Dr. Joseph M Ewing of the Fresno First Presbyterian Church gives the opening address.

July 4
Fred Hauck announces that California inmates would move to Poston and the PNW group to Tule; PNW people believed they would be joining their PNW friends there, something that turned out not to be true.

July 23
The last group leaves for Tule Lake, and Pinedale closes.

"In the distance, in the middle of the vast dry, flat land, hundreds of black barracks enclosed by barbed wire come into view. Silhouettes of guard towers surround the compound. We stop by the gate, above which is one of the towers, with two guards armed with rifles. A Machine gun at their feet, pointed at us, sends a chilling message. How come, I ask myself?"

"The dry, powdery dirt, left by the bulldozers during the construction, stands a foot deep in spots. To my dismay, my feet sink into the ground, filling my shoes with dry dirt. There is not one bed of green grass, not one weed and no trees.... The scraps of lumber left from construction are scattered everywhere, floating like dead tan-colored fish on the soft, brown undulated earth."
Kiyo Sato, 2007 ^[34]

"Yes, it had more of a concentration camp atmosphere than, say, Tule Lake. It was just kind of like bare bones. They built that thing so fast, just in the middle of nowhere. Of course, coming from the northwest like around the Tacoma/Puget Sound area, it's still real cool in May even. But in the Fresno area, it's already 110 degrees, no shade, trees, no nothing."
Ken Hayashi, 1976 ^[35]

"We had cement floors in the building that we were in, and we had cots. But all we had was cots with a mattress, but we were fortunate because the people that came in later, they had to stuff the mattress with straw. And they also, the floor was tar, and it's so hot, the tar was soft, and the beds would sink into the tar. It must have been horrible, but we had cement floors, so it was cool. And my daughter was sleeping under the bed one night, and it really frightened me because she wasn't in bed, and I thought, "My goodness, where is she?" But she had gotten down under the bed, because it was cooler."
Peggie Nishimura Bain, 2004 ^[36]

"Oh boy. I remember those barracks, they had these single bed cots with the straw tick mattresses, and then they had these four posts for the bed. And they had this asphalt flooring, and it got so hot that all four of those posts when you got on the bed, it would sink all the way down to the hard, hard surface of the ground underneath."
Toshio Ito, 1998 ^[37]

"Sometimes I wonder why such things as insects inhabit the earth. My dislike of insects grew in Pinedale Assembly Center. We just about lived with them. The opening between the wall and the floor of the barrack was their pathway and entrance into the room. I have heard crickets cry in Tacoma but had the opportunity to see them and actually step on them in Pinedale. Crickets made regular stops on my pillow every night. Ugh! Now I hate these light-loving insects."
Ruby Kumasaka, 1943 ^[38]

"In Pinedale it was terrible. It was just a thrown together camp, is what it was, and it was all tar paper on the outside and with a little teeny window, you can hardly see the outside. The floor was all tar and it was so hot that when the army cots were put there, it sunk about three inches on the ground, right into it. And then the mats, we had to go out and get straw and fill it with straw, and then put it on our bed. And when you lay on it, the straw is sticking to your body because it's straw."
Mitsuko Hashiguchi, 1998 ^[39]

After Japanese Americans left the camp, Camp Pinedale was established on the site on August 1, 1942, to house soldiers training as army air forces signal technicians. In July 1944, it became home of the 840th Army Air Forces Specialized Depot. It was deactivated in February 1947. ^[40]

Pinedale Assembly Center was one of the twelve California temporary detention centers to share California Historical Landmark #934, so named in 1980. ^[41]

On February 16, 2009, the Pinedale Remembrance Plaza was dedicated. The 7,000 square foot plaza is located at 625 W. Allvuial Avenue in Fresno and features a water fountain designed by Gerard Tsutakawa surrounded by twelve storyboards that tell the story of Japanese American incarceration and Pinedale. ^[42]

Masamori Hashimoto , Issei artist
Daisuke Kitagawa , Episcopalian minister and author
William Marutani , Lawyer and judge
Robert Matsui , Congressman
Charles Erabu Mikami , Issei painter
Minoru Tamesa , Draft resistance leader
Chio Tominaga , Textile artist
Sadayuki Thomas Uno , Issei painter and sculptor
Clifford Uyeda , Pediatrician and JACL redress leader
Takuji Yamashita , Issei civil rights activist

Burton, Jeffery F., Mary M. Farrell, Florence B. Lord, and Richard W. Lord. Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites . Western Archeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service, 1999, 2000. Foreword by Tetsuden Kashima. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002. The Pinedale section of 2000 version accessible online at http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/anthropology74/ce16e.htm .

Gruenewald, Mary Matsuda. Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese-American Internment Camps . Troutdale, Ore.: NewSage Press, 2005.

Kitagawa, Daisuke. Issei and Nisei: The Internment Years . New York: The Seabury Press, 1967.

Pinedale Memorial Assembly Center website: http://pinedalememorial.org/ .

Pursinger, Marvin G. "Oregon's Japanese in World War II, A History of Compulsory Relocation." Diss., University of Southern California, 1960.

Sato, Kiyo. Kiyo's Story: A Japanese-American Family's Quest for the American Dream . New York: Soho Press, 2007.

Tamura, Linda. The Hood River Issei: An Oral History of Japanese Settlers in Oregon’s Hood River Valley . Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993.

Uyeda, Clifford I. Suspended: Growing Up Asian in America . San Francisco: National Japanese Historical Society, 1999.