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LT: Okay. So they were married in March of 1919, and can you talk again about the work that your father did for the Oregon Lumber Company?

SI: You know, when the Oregon Lumber Company, he, I guess the lumber in those days, they used to have the lumber come out on a chain and then go down this way, then you sort out the lumber that you have piles of. It was usually small stuff, two-by-fours, six and eight, and four-by-four and all that, separated in piles, and you have to go back and forth and put it on this thing. And it could be long or it could be short, sometimes it was long, they tempered it pretty heavy. Because it was sure manual work.

LT: So his job was to sort the wood?

SI: That lumber that was made, and it's piled up.

LT: So he had to pile it as well.

SI: Well, you got to drag it off and put it on the pile.

LT: Okay.

SI: In those days, when they first started, they used to just have a cart about this wide, and cart, oh, maybe ten foot flat cart, and just put on top of that. And then since they had a wheel on that, underneath that cart, well, they took a horse and took it to the yard and piled up. They had to, usually they were, in those days, they were drying the lumber by just stacking in patterns so there'd be air space between the boards.

LT: And then how were they distributed for purchase?

SI: Well, they had to run it through what they call a planer to surface it so it'd be all smooth and same dimension. So they had to go through the planer first, then I remember Oregon Lumber, they used to load the cars, boxcars, these guys would load 'em. Unless they had a special order for a certain size, they just loaded up all different size and they said, they sent the car out and they told the salesman to sell the car with the lumber in it. So the car left, but they don't know where it's going.

LT: So you mentioned that the Dee lumber company and the Dee sawmill was a place where many Japanese Americans settled because the Issei --

SI: Not at the sawmill worker, but there was a lot of, just like this maintenance crew for the railroad it had, were some Japanese, and then up on the flat it was mostly farmers. There was a few Japanese family in the mill, working the mill, but I think there was two or three families that worked, like Kinoshitas and Imebis, they worked in the mill.

LT: So how do you think Dee became a Japanese American community where so many Issei settled?

SI: I don't know why. Well, most of 'em on the flat were doing farming, and I think Mr. Yasui is the one that kind of pushed the Japanese out there.

LT: What did he say to encourage them to settle?

SI: I don't know. There was quite a few families came to Dee.

LT: Well, your father began working for the sawmill, and then he eventually became a farmer. How did that happen?

SI: Well, then this lumber company owned the whole flat when they logged it off, so they sold land to whatever wanted to buy 'em, and they bought it for a pretty reasonable price. I think it was less than fifty dollars an acre. So they had to... timber was taking off, but some of 'em had to clear the land, and then when they cleared the land, usually they start out with putting out strawberries. Then they put the trees in between the strawberries. In the olden days, the trees were, well, trees, spaces were pretty far apart, 'cause they were big trees. And that's how they got started. When that strawberry was raised first, well, ground was pretty nice, so it really had good production. But the strawberry in those days, they raised, they planted the plant, and the first year they just hoed it and took care of it, water it and everything else, and the second year they didn't hardly get much strawberry. But the third year they start getting strawberry. It was a long process. I hear in California, present farmers, they just plant strawberries in, I guess in September or sometime, and by March they're harvesting down there because temperatures a lot warmer. So their plants are not very old.

LT: Well, it must have been difficult for the Issei farmers who were starting out to wait three years for their strawberries to be harvested?

SI: Yeah, three years. And fruit, so they put the fruit tree out, but they didn't bear either. 'Cause those olden days, everybody just pruned the tree to make a shape. And the more you cut, the less production. They found out later that you just don't want those cut those trees, just let it grow. Those days, they were just trying to make a tree, really cutting them. And they didn't bear for three or four years.

LT: My goodness. So waiting for your strawberries to bear, and then waiting for your fruit trees to bear, it must have been a very frugal life for the Issei. How did they sustain themselves during that period of time?

SI: Well, they always raised their own vegetables, raised hogs and chickens and things like that to survive. Oh, yeah.

LT: Okay. Well, while your father was farming, what was your mother doing?

SI: She was helping manually, try to help as much as she can.

LT: Can you be specific about some of the responsibility she had on the farm?

SI: Well, when they start strawberries, well, they were picking just like the kids were and stuff like that. When they started raising asparagus, they were... after they were all cut and brought in, they were all sorted out and made into nice bunches, things like that. So there was always some work for the women to do on the farm, or go hoe and get rid of the weeds in the field.

LT: Okay. And then beyond the farmwork, they were also taking care of the house and the children?

SI: Yeah, doing the cooking and taking care of the house. But those days... yeah.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.