Colorado was one of the states that had an internment camp, where Japanese-Americans were sent-- unwillingly-- during World War II. Visit Camp Amache on the southeastern plains today and you won’t see much. There are no barracks left, just some foundations. But starting this weekend, you can get a much more vivid sense of that era in neighboring Wyoming. That’s because an interpretive center is opening at the former Heart Mountain Internment Camp. It’s in the northern part of the state, about an hour east of Yellowstone.
Back in 2006, we interviewed a man who was forced to live at Heart Mountain. The late Bill Hosakawa worked at The Denver Post for nearly 40 years as a foreign correspondent, a columnist and chief of the editorial page. He was also a prolific author. Several of his books were about the experience of Japanese-Americans. Hosakawa was 26 when he was sent along with his wife and young son from their home in Seattle to Heart Mountain. Our interview with Hosokawa aired on May 22, 2006. He died the next year at age 92.
For additional information on the new interpretive center, Ryan Warner speaks with Christy Fleming of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation.
