<Begin Segment 22>

AI: But in any case, as you say, one day your time came to leave, and you and your family got on the train, and did you -- you knew at that point you were going to Heart Mountain? Is that right?

KO: That's right. We knew where we were going. Yes.

AI: And, recall anything about the trip going down there?

KO: Not really. But I remember... If I remember correctly, Heart Mountain was kind of a cold place in the wintertime. It was, we spent a cold, cold winter there. I did, anyway, before I went in the army.

AI: Because let's see, you left Tule Lake in the fall? Was that...?

KO: I think it was fall.

AI: Fall.

KO: Yeah, and that's, cold weather's just coming on. And I think it was a little different than winters in Tule Lake. As I remember it, anyway.

AI: Well of course in Wyoming, winter comes on earlier than...

KO: Yes, and I think we were up kinda' high, altitude-wise. So, it was, those winters were quite severe, I thought.

AI: What was your first impression when you got to Heart Mountain?

KO: I have no first impressions. All I remember is eventually getting a job on the paper there, and going to work. And trying to get acquainted with more new neighbors, because all of the friends didn't, all of your block didn't move together into one area; although, some of the people did -- that we knew -- did move into Heart Mountain. And so, at least we had a base of friendship there, unlike going into Tule Lake.

AI: So you had a few friends that, you came in together. But in another way, you had to start over again.

KO: That's correct.

AI: A whole new camp.

KO: That's right. In looking back over all of these moves that we made, I sometimes believe that we were able to handle these movements more than perhaps some other people, because we'd done so much moving around when we were youngsters. And we learned to try to adapt quickly, and perhaps that helped us in adjusting to all the moves that we had to make.

AI: Some of your earlier experiences kinda' came in handy in a way.

KO: Yeah, I would say that it did. Because I can't remember where it was really a problem, getting adjusted.

AI: What were the surroundings at Heart Mountain like, in comparison to Tule Lake? Just the way it looked, and the way it felt.

KO: I think it was more hilly, more -- a little more barren, if that's possible. The thing that happened, is that here the people were trying to raise their own food, and raising vegetables and things out in that barren land and making it work. I thought that was quite an accomplishment. But, there's not too much about that life that I can remember clearly. It's -- things were, being a young man, things were moving along, and we had other things to think about.

AI: Right.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.