Densho Digital Archive - Joe Seto Interview (denshovh-sjoe

<Begin Segment 6>

EB: And so you left Tacoma, and where did you go?

JS: To Pinedale, California, which is about thirty miles east of Fresno.

EB: And how long did that trip last?

JS: I think two nights as I recall.

EB: Were you on a bus?

JS: Train.

EB: A train. And how long was your family at Pinedale?

JS: Until... they closed Pinedale and moved us to Tule Lake, I think it was, in July or August.

EB: And do you remember your family number?

JS: The residence? I think it was Block 57, they called it "Alaska."

EB: Okay. [Laughs] Like your family number.

JS: Oh, you mean my personal number?

EB: Personal number.

JS: No, I don't remember.

EB: Let's go back to Pinedale for a minute. What were your living conditions like at Pinedale?

JS: Well, they were typical barracks, but with dirt floors. And single iron beds, what they call army cots, they sank into the ground, of course. It was very dusty. Then the mattress was, we had straw, we had a mattress cover we had to fill with straw. And, of course, the outhouse, we used our outdoor facilities, washing and shower and toilet and mess hall.

EB: How did you, how did this impact you, to go from living in your private family home to conditions...

JS: Well, since we were all in the same situation, you just had to do the best we could.

EB: And as an eighteen year old boy, I guess...

JS: Well, I was accustomed to rather primitive living conditions because as a child, every summer, we had to go to the farm to pick raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and peas. And so we lived in these farmworkers shacks, which are really shacks as you might visualize. No running water, no insulation, just raw boards. So having lived under those conditions, it wasn't that difficult to contend with the living conditions in camp, so similar.

EB: So where was that farm that you went to?

JS: It's in Fife, about five miles outside of Tacoma.

EB: Okay. And then how did you spend your time during the day while you were at Pinedale? Did you have a job there?

JS: No. They simply arrived there, very few jobs, and we just sat around every day. We had some sports activity I know, softball. But other than that, we just sat around most of the day, sat in the shade because it was very hot.