Densho Digital Archive - Kay Endo Interview (denshovh-ekay-01-0008)

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RP: So what kind of games did you play while you were in camp?

KE: Well, we played kind of like flag football and stole the ball and kicked the football and see how far we could kick it. Made kick the can and marbles and like I was telling you we had mumbly peg which was a --

RP: Oh, it's mumbly peg.

KE: Yeah, it's that knife game.

RP: So whose knife was that?

KE: Well, somebody had a knife, called jackknives in those days. And we did various things with that. And we played, I was mentioning the other day, we were playing, you make a pie shape and then you have cut the pie where you're trying to isolate your opponent so they couldn't put their... if they couldn't put their foot in the section of the pie then you won.

RP: How about, did you ever get the chance to use the swimming holes in the camp?

KE: No, I visited the swimming hole and the canal but never did participate in it.

RP: Did you see people swimming in the canal?

KE: Oh, yeah, they swam in the canal and since they had a couple drownings they made the swimming hole which in this day and age if you had it there it would have been prohibited to go in.

RP: Yeah, and it's still there.

KE: Right.

RP: How about... another thing that kids did maybe a little older than you was skating, ice skating?

KE: Yes, they did... this was a swimming hole too which was located just a little bit, like I said it would be east of where the original hole was and that was from the ditch water and then when that froze over, they ice skated. That's probably January then.

RP: So that was where the dishwater went?

KE: No, not the dish, ditch water.

RP: Oh, ditch water, I'm sorry.

KE: Excuse me.

RP: That's my misunderstanding.

KE: Yeah.

RP: The ditch water, okay. And did you ever have ice skates?

KE: No, never did have the opportunity.

RP: Did you have any roller skates?

KE: No, did roller skate once in Twin Falls.

RP: You did?

KE: Yes, at a Cub Scout outing.

RP: So you were in the Scouts?

KE: Yes, not very good scout but I was in the Scouts. [Laughs]

RP: So you went to Twin Falls to meet with other scouts?

KE: No, we're on our own, it was just like a field trip. The highlight of the trip was visiting the radio station and of course roller skating.

RP: Did you take other field trips with the Scouts?

KE: No, that was the only time that I went outside of camp.

RP: Was there a Boy Scout troop too?

KE: Yes, there was.

RP: I remember those badges you used to be able to earn.

KE: No, I never got past whatever badges there were.

RP: You were talking yesterday a little bit about some of the animals out there in the desert. You said that there was a gentleman that used to keep snakes?

KE: Oh, his name was Morikawa and he had the nickname Monkey Morikawa. [Laughs] Before the war he had a monkey but he was a gentleman that went out and captured rattlesnakes and brought them back into... and the cage looked like a chicken coop. Of course the wire fencing, the fencing was a little smaller, I mean, diameter wise on the wire. But that's the only time I've seen a live rattlesnake and like you said we never had a tick bite or seen a scorpion. So the good Lord looked after us young kids.

RP: Did you see rabbits or coyotes on occasion?

KE: I think we have seen rabbits but not coyotes. We've heard 'em, you know, you hear 'em in any high desert country.

RP: You used to play Army out there too?

KE: Oh, yeah, I was telling you about we dug a hole and then made little tunnels to get out of it and one of the older gentlemen said, "You shouldn't be doing those kind of things." [Laughs] But that was a lot of fun.