Manzanar: Our country's shameful past

When I left Carson City, NV this morning, I headed south on the picturesque U.S. 395.  I was treated to the sight of snow covered peaks on either side of me, and I stopped briefly at Mono Lake to enjoy the beauty and take a few pics of the tufas.

My main destination of the day was a visit to Manzanar National Historic Site just south of Independence, CA.  But, before going there, I checked out the Eastern California Museum in that town.  It was housed in a rather nondescript building, but it had a lot of things to see.  Besides artifacts from Manzanar's past, there were other exhibits of local history.  I was particularly amused by the set of dentures made with coyote teeth! Too bad they don't do that now...I mean, make dentures with animal teeth.  Think of the possibilities!

 

Before leaving, I walked around the museum's native plant garden.  I took photos of some flowers and a lizard, and got a wonderful panoramic shot of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Things got more serious when I arrived at Manzanar, known at the Manzanar War Relocation Center when it was established in 1942.  This historic site preserves one of the most shameful periods in this country's history.  After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, the U.S. government interred more than 110,000 men, women and children of Japanese descent.  AMERICAN CITIZENS!  They were housed in tar paper covered wooden barracks in the middle of the high desert, exposed to dust, wind, and extreme cold and heat.  My family was fortunate to be living in Hawaii, so they didn't experience such hardships, and they weren't interred either.

The site's visitor center is housed in the camp's original gym, and has excellent displays explaining what the Japanese Americans went through. Afterward, I looked at their recreated examples of a typical blockhouse and the mess hall.  The small signs lined up in a row represent how the barracks were stationed in one area.

I continued my experience there by taking the auto tour...driving along the site's roads and viewing the remnants of what used to be.  Here are photos of Merritt Park...named after the camp's director...and the cemetery.  While I was walking the short distance to the park, I spotted a wasp toting a caterpillar bigger than itself!  I thought it was cool!

I left Manzanar through what used to be the main gate.  The original guard shacks are still standing, one of the last remnants of a historical past that shouldn't be forgotten...and never repeated.