<Begin Segment 41>

TI: And so when you got to Pinedale Assembly Center, what was that like?

HH: It was, as I say, it used to be an old sawmill, and we could see that the barracks were the same as any army barracks, in a row. So when we got off, we had to walk to that entrance, and they had a crew waiting for us as we came in to register and then at that time, when I got to get our blankets or straw or whatever you needed, you pick up your blankets, army blankets, and then assigned a barrack. They call it a room, but then it was a barrack sectioned off into... the two end rooms were the large rooms because they had a big double door, just like the army barracks. And then in between, they sectioned off I believe about four buildings, four rooms, sectioned off with the doors on one side. Anyway, by the time we got there to register, George (Watanabe). Anyway, the editor of the Pinedale Irrigator --

TI: Pinedale Logger.

HH: Pinedale Logger, excuse me, because it was named after the sawmill. Anyway, he met me and said, "We're going to be, put out a paper, camp paper from tomorrow, so I want you to report to the office." And so we had a paper put out.

TI: So that's interesting. So you went there, so it was this old sawmill that they put barracks in, you walk in, and as you're registering, you come across someone you know named George, who's going to be the editor of this. Now, how did you know George? What was the connection?

HH: I didn't know him, really, until I met him there.

TI: So how did he know about you, that you were a journalist?

HH: I don't remember if he also attended University of Washington, I don't know. And I don't know too much about him really, but he's the one that was waiting for me at the entrance as I came in.

TI: Oh, so was he waiting for you? So he knew that you were coming.

HH: Yes, yes.

TI: So he knew that you were coming, so he wanted to recruit you to work for the Logger.

HH: Yes, he wanted to let me know that when I got settled down, to show up at, before we got the barrack, my wife and everything, settled down, he says, if I would come because we had a paper to put out.

TI: Now, at this time, were there quite a few people at Pinedale already, before you got there?

HH: Yes.

TI: So where were these people from?

HH: Actually, all of Tacoma and Auburn area, and Kent, and Bellevue, and Sumner, but not Fife. And Seattle was only Seattle, and outlying areas, like Enumclaw and all that, and Eatonville and up north also, they all came into Pinedale.

TI: So that's kind of interesting. So in the Northwest, you had Seattle, and then some outlying communities of Tacoma like Fife, they ended up going to Puyallup and then later on to Minidoka, whereas Tacoma and places like Bellevue, Kent, and the other outlying areas around Seattle, all went down to Pinedale.

HH: Yes, except Bainbridge Island.

TI: Which went to Manzanar.

HH: Uh-huh, they already left.

TI: So even though it was geographically close when you started off, you went to these three separate areas.

HH: Yes.

TI: Okay, so you're there, and so you have other Northwest people, and who else was at Pinedale besides the Northwest people?

HH: And then from the Bay Area, San Francisco, Alameda.

TI: Alameda, Sacramento...

HH: Sacramento...

TI: ...was there.

HH: Yes.

TI: Okay, so there were other people.

<End Segment 41> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.