<Begin Segment 19>

TI: Good, so let's move on. So from Pomona you're then moved to someplace else, so why don't you talk about the journey to, to Heart Mountain we mentioned earlier? So talk about the train ride to Heart Mountain.

TH: Well, in fact, I don't really remember getting on the train, except I remember the train ride, and, again, it was in August so it was hot and the train itself was, we were, I guess commenting that this was pre-World War I type of train. (...) I think it was gas lit and so on, but so the passenger car, the train itself, it was on the hot side, very warm inside. And when we came time to eat (...) we moved into the dining car and the dining cars were at the time air conditioned, so it was a real shock to walk in and wow, it's very cool. And you had a tendency to want to maybe stay in there as long, but then no, there are other people that are coming in. The personnel, the workers there were blacks, which at that time was, was the set up for the railroads, and apparently they had sympathized with us and so the food that we got was well-prepared and lots of it. And so here we're just sitting there, doing nothing, and then here comes this plate with, the breakfast would be maybe three, four bacons and two eggs and potatoes and whatever else, and no matter how much you tried (not to waste), you couldn't eat all of it. And most of the people, it was the same thing, so finally the, I guess the person in charge or someone who decided to be in charge went back and talked to the cook and says, "Hey," he says, "We're wasting all this food. Don't serve as much." [Laughs] So the portions got a little more sane for us who were just sitting there not doing anything. So that was the thing that I remember, and I think that the train ride took about four days. Three nights, four days. And as we went through certain sections we were requested to have the shades pulled down, and I remember, I think it was one night, with the shades even pulled down, somebody peeked out and says, "Oh," he said, "We're in Pocatello, Idaho." Well, Pocatello, I don't (know but) -- Idaho I knew, so I figured we were going around the north way and apparently we went to Billings, and then from Billings went down into Powell. So then when we got there it was daylight, and when I got off the train and looked out I, my first impression was, was wow, this is a great place because I could see wide open spaces and Heart Mountain in the back, and so I thought it was very nice. But I guess I was looking at it from the standpoint of a sixteen year old and also a Boy Scout who loved to go up into the mountains and fish. [Laughs]

TI: So like with hunting or fishing, camping, probably?

TH: Yeah. Right, yeah, that's kind of envisioned, but then really thinking about it, though, my sisters said, oh, they hated the place because when (...) they break the sod like they did for building the camp, then when the wind comes up the dust blows and so it was dust everywhere. And then my sisters would then have to be cleaning, trying to mop and sweep all the dust, keep the dust off the things, so it was, really it was kinda bad. But again, I immediately went to work in the mess hall, which then pulled me completely away from the hardships and some of the things you had to do within the barracks.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.