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TI: So tell me, is that where the Inaba family or your dad, is that where he went?

LI: Yes. And you know, because the Yakima Valley people had broken ground out of sagebrush on the reservation, they actually helped to clear land and establish irrigation systems at Heart Mountain as well. And so I think, as well as the other inductees to that relocation center or concentration camp, whatever you want to call it, I'm sure the people from California participated as well. But I know that the Japanese from the valley were very well-versed in clearing sagebrush and breaking ground out of sagebrush and putting in the irrigation systems. And what they said was there were complaints from outside of camp that the Japanese in the camp were eating better than the people outside of camps. And so the explanation from the camp management was, well, they're growing their own crops. And I think they did so well that they actually sent crops out of Heart Mountain to other relocation centers and they shared that. And so, yeah, they were obviously good farmers.

TI: Any family stories from either Portland Assembly Center or Heart Mountain with your dad that come to mind, or your grandparents?

LI: Well, I think my dad didn't really spend that much time there, nor did Sheane. Because of the war effort, there was labor shortages all over the place. And they had Japanese farm worker camps in southern Idaho, and they were recruited to go to those camps. Because if you take all the Japanese out of the West Coast, somebody's got to grow the food that they had done back then. And so they recruited them to help the Treasure Valley growers produce their crops. And so I have photos, and I think there are a lot of the internees were recruited out of the relocation centers into neighboring...

TI: No, that's interesting that your dad and uncle from Heart Mountain, went all the way to the Treasure Valley, because that's really close to Minidoka. And so I've done a lot of interviews on Minidoka, and you're right, a lot of them were recruited for the local farming. I didn't realize it came as far as Heart Mountain.

LI: Well, I think the Treasure Valley was a rich farming area, and so there was a lot of growers doing the same kind of things. And so I don't know what kind of climate you have in Wyoming to grow a lot of crops, and so I think that's why they had to come that far to work.

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