<Begin Segment 19>

TI: And then from Minidoka they came to Ontario? And was this when you were still living there in Ontario, the area?

MT: Yes, I was still doing housework.

TI: Okay. So when they came, did you all then come together back as a family or did you stay in your job and they did something else? Or what did they do? What did your parents do?

MT: Well, it was very hard for them, they found work, whatever they could find, day work, more or less. My poor father. [Laughs] I think he got a job helping shear sheep or something, and he was a small man, he wasn't very tall, and I don't know how he was, but when he came home, he was so tired, I just felt so sorry for him. But that wasn't the only kind of work, they did whatever they could, it was very difficult for them because most of it was really manual, and he wasn't used to the heavy labor.

TI: But then eventually they went from Ontario to Spokane?

MT: Yes. Well, eventually what happened was they, well, initially when they came out there was no place for them except they had these farm labor camp type of things, they temporarily put up barracks, and they were staying there. And they eventually moved, they found some small piece of land, and so they wanted to try farming on their own.

TI: And this is in Ontario?

MT: It's still in, yeah, it wasn't Ontario, it was Nyssa, which is a neighboring town, but that's what they did. They worked that for a while until they were told about property in Spokane.

TI: And this farm labor camp in Nyssa, did you ever go visit?

MT: Yes, I did.

TI: And what was it like? Describe the...

MT: Sort of like, well, it was almost like being back in camp again. [Laughs]

TI: Because they had barracks again?

MT: Yes.

TI: And so about how many barracks did you see?

MT: Not a whole... I can't remember, I couldn't tell you right now. It wasn't that big.

TI: But similarities in terms of barracks, but then I suppose no barbed wire, though, no fencing.

MT: No.

TI: And generally were they families or were they more just workers?

MT: Well, I think it was a mix. There were some families but there were some that were just groups of people that were there to work.

TI: And how did your parents feel about being at a farm camp like that? Was that something that they thought was a good thing, they enjoyed it, or it was something they wanted to move away as quickly as possible?

MT: Yeah.

TI: So why was that? What made it so difficult for them?

MT: Well, for one thing, my father was not used to doing the kind of work that he was forced to do, because there was no choice if you wanted to work. I think he was always a farmer, I mean, his own farm, so they did find a small piece of land and they moved and they ran that farm for a short time before they moved to Spokane.

TI: And so why just for a short time? Why didn't they stay longer?

MT: Oh, because they bought the property in Spokane.

TI: Okay, so a better piece of property.

MT: Yeah. And by that time, my brothers were old enough to take over the farm, so it wasn't so much my father's responsibility.

TI: Okay. And so is that where after the war the family settled?

MT: Yes.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.