Minidoka

Jerome, ID   High 90  Low 54

Wanting to get away from people, I found one other site we would like to see. And I was hoping that it was far enough away we could explore safely. There were only a few people at the site and we were able to avoid them.

On December 7, 1941, Imperial Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Because of fear of a West Coast invasion, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. This allowed the military to force people out of established exclusion zones. The vast majority of people forced from their homes were of Japanese ancestry. The news media published rumors that the Japanese were signaling enemy ships from shore. The FBI investigated and did not find any truth to these types of rumors but people still believed them.

In less than six months, the US War Relocation Authority moved over 110,000 people from war exclusion zones into “camps”.

People began being moved to Minidoka in August of 1942 even before the camp was completed. The “residents” of the camp helped to finishing building the barracks and mess hall as well as installing the sewer system.  Minidoka War Relocation Center was a 33,000 acre site and over 13,000 incarcerees went through it’s gate. The camp was the 7^th largest “city” in Idaho.

Minidoka had five miles of barbed wire fencing and eight guard towers. About three months later, the Center Administrators said “the sudden appearance of the fence was greatly resented by the residents.” Most of the fence soon came down and the towers were not staffed. The people forced to live in the camp were peaceful and a community was created as they started to farm the land and establish schools.

Minidoka closed on October 28, 1945. Some people could return home but many of them had no homes or businesses to return to. They had to start over to establish new lives in the country they still loved.

EO9066 was not formally terminated until 1976 by President Gerald Ford. He said “We have learned from the tragedy of that long ago experience forever to treasure liberty and justice for each individual American, and resolve that this kind of action shall never again be repeated.”

These sites are sobering to visit. We also visited the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center in Wyoming several years ago. I find it interesting that most Japanese people want these sites to be restored so that their children and the rest of the world can learn from them. They don’t want them torn down and destroyed like it never happened.

Minidoka sits on the banks of the Snake River.

Shoshone Falls

Jerome, ID   High 90  Low 64

We left Wells Friday morning for our next stop in Jerome, ID. The weather folks were saying that a storm would be moving into our route and we wanted to find a spot to sit til the storm passed - preferable a spot with no trees.  The fairgrounds in Jerome were just the place to be. $10 a night for electric and water. Pretty? - well it's a parking lot. But the fairgrounds are green and well taken care of. That works for us.

The storm was supposed to come through on Saturday but it stalled out somewhere and now it's supposed to show up Sunday and Monday. We had one severe weather alert but that system went south of us. So now we are waiting to see what happens today. We will be leaving here on Tuesday heading east and north.

Since Saturday turned out to be a pretty nice day we decided to do a little sightseeing. We spent time in this area back in 2012 but when we were here at that time, Shoshone Falls were dry.

We figured we would see if there was any water flowing this visit. Shoshone Falls are referred to as the Niagara of the West. They are 212 feet tall and 900 feet wide which makes them taller than Niagara Falls.

What a difference this year. The Falls are beautiful.

The road down the canyon to the viewing area is narrow and winding but they allow RV's on it. (Not our RV).  The walls of the canyon are beautiful.

There were hundreds of people at the Falls with very limited parking and they were not controlling the number of cars heading down the canyon. So when you got to the bottom there was no place to park. Unless you're Jim. He never fails to get a parking spot. Not one of the hundreds of people there was wearing a mask. But I put mine on to go take the pictures. Jim stayed in the truck away from people. Needless to say it didn't take me long to get the pictures and we left, freeing up one parking spot for the twenty cars we passed going down.

Looking down river from the Falls. There were too many people down on the viewing stand so I didn't go down there.

We made one other stop but that place deserves its own post.

I Don't Think I Can Take Much More Excitement

Wells, NV   High 89  Low 58

Last night was supposed to be a calm, peaceful time. We made the trip of 140 miles from Ely to Wells without any mishaps (except for all the panting, pacing, and whining that Skittlez does). We stayed at a Passport America campground - Welcome Station just a few miles west of Wells.

Those of you who have followed my blog for years know that I much prefer wide open campgrounds with no trees. Sometimes I don't get what I like. The trees and grass do make for a really pretty campground and Welcome Station has plenty of both. We got a nice long pull through that was quite level and under a huge tree. No idea what kind.

We watched a huge fifth wheel with a medium duty truck pull in and get parked. I was nervous for them. But they got it in a spot and I have no idea how they are ever going to get it out. Our neighbor was in a rental RV. Mom, Dad and two little girls.

Everything was going along just fine until the wind started to howl. We were really rockin' and rollin' for awhile. The wind finally moved off and then took a sudden turn and came back with a vengeance. This time it brought rain with it and attacked the trees in the park. It sounded like we were being hit with baseball size hail when the branches came down on us. I was sooo not happy.

This is the smallest of the branches because the owner had already taken care of the big ones.

The park owners were out cleaning up the park before the storm even ended. They really are nice and take excellent care of their park. The owner even offered to climb up on our roof to check out our solar panels for damage but Jim decided he would do it himself.

The solar panels were okay. Nothing broken.

Jim checked everything out.

The owner loaned him a broom to clean off the slide out.

The calm after the storm. Our view.

ELY, NEVADA

Ely, NV   High 86  Low 54

Ely was established in the 1870s as a stagecoach station and post office on the road to Pioche.  And then copper was discovered and the town started to grow. In 1915 Kennecott Copper bought up the mines and their dominance lasted until 1978 when everything shut down. They did leave behind the Nevada Northern Railroad.

We rode the train from Ely to McGill and back several years ago and with Covid-19 around, we decided not to take that trip again.

I did, however, convince Jim to take a ride around the town and up the hillside so I could get some pictures.

One of the last remaining copper smelter smokestacks.

 The Hotel Nevada opened in 1929 and was the tallest building in the state until 1948. It was also the first fire-proof building in the state. Rooms rented for $1.50 and up, "all with private toilets; 85% with private baths".  Prohibition was in effect when the hotel opened and from the beginning bootlegged refreshment and gambling were available 24 hours a day. 

The mural was painted by Larry Bute to bring life back to downtown Ely.  The dark clouds moved in and did not make for a good picture. This is downtown main street.

The inverter arrived yesterday as planned. Jim got it installed and we left this morning. We are spending tonight in Wells, NV.  Back on the road in the morning.