<Begin Segment 15>

TI: So you guys go by Fort Stanton, and you go past that...

RE: And we go to Raton Ranch. It was called Old Raton Ranch. Used to be an old Girl Scout camp, at one time it was a CCC camp. It was also one -- I guess Fort Stanton was the tuberculosis hospital at one time as well, back in the '30s.

TI: And so describe what the Old Raton Ranch looked like.

RE: It's gorgeous. It was, it was in the woods, obviously, it was a Girl Scout camp, so it had to be beautiful. They had a log cabin which was the, actually, the so-called "mess hall," so to speak, for us. And there were barracks built by CCC boys, because they're doing reforestation in that area, in the '30s.

TI: And so at this point, how many were in your group?

RE: Well, there were, there were six families. Six families.

TI: And so roughly, I'm guessing, about forty or so, or more?

RE: No, less than that.

TI: It was. Because you had about...

RE: There were about thirty, thirty-two of us, thirty-three maybe, I don't know. I'm guessing.

TI: And roughly more kids than, than adults?

RE: Kimura family had a whole bunch. I don't recall the other families having -- because I remember the Nakamoto or Nakashima family, they took the, they went back to Japan before Pearl Harbor was attacked. She was sort of a quiet girl, and played the piano and all that, but they, they went back to Japan. So I think it was just the Kimuras and us kids, pretty much.

TI: And so how was it, were things organized? Were you just sort of let loose in the camp and you guys sort of decided who would sleep where?

RE: Uh-huh, uh-huh. And the administrators, the head of the border patrol, Mr. Tenney, was, and his two other cohorts lived in a, in a sort of a cottage across the way. My two sisters lived in another little place 'cause there were too many of us in one, one little barrack. But I think what happened, the men were now, not having been used to doing nothing, started cutting trees down that needed to be cut down, and they were kept busy pretty much.

TI: And so things like food and...

RE: It was brought to us.

TI: And so did you all eat in the same mess hall, or were you still as family units?

RE: Yeah, pretty much. My, my dad and Mr. Kimura did quite a bit of cooking, along with the women.

TI: And you mentioned two administrators. Were they there to watch over you in the sense -- I mean, did you ever...

RE: They were responsible.

TI: Did you recall that, did they have guns or anything, or were they...

RE: Yeah, they all had the, you know, state patrols, had their sidearms and all that, yeah.

TI: And so was it clear to you and others that you were supposed to stay there?

RE: Uh-huh.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.