Densho Digital Archive - Ruth Sasaki Interview (denshovh-sruth-01-0016)

<Begin Segment 16>

TI: Now I think earlier we talked about how it was during the camp years that you met your husband.

RS: No. See, he never was in camp because he lived east of the Cascades. And the war ended, and he was, they come out, and looking for workers that, I mean, people that weren't going to go back to the coast. And then at that time, my late husband, he was farming. And so that's where we got our mom and dad and me and the kids, boys. See, we worked for him.

TI: So he was kind, essentially, recruiting families to come farm.

RS: Yeah.

TI: And where was he recruiting from? Where was he trying to get...

RS: He lived in Ontario. So he was my future husband.

TI: So he was older than you were?

RS: Oh, yeah, ten years. The best person. Yeah, the father of my kids.

TI: Okay, so this is after. Before, I want to ask more about that, but any other stories about Minidoka that you can remember?

RS: Well, that's about...

TI: So it worked out for your family because I'm guessing your parents had to figure out what to do after you left Minidoka. Where would they go, what would they do?

RS: Yeah.

TI: And so when your future husband came and talked about Ontario, that seemed to work really well for your family?

RS: Yeah. 'Cause farming, see, because it was my dad liked farming.

TI: So what was the, I guess, the situation? So was it like you would live, have your own farm, or you would work for someone?

RS: Worked for someone.

TI: And so describe that.

RS: We worked for them. And then we lived in this small house that was provided for us, and it worked out good.

TI: Now when you said you worked for him, did he own the farm, or was it his parents that owned it?

RS: He was renting it, him and his mom and dad.

TI: Okay, and how large was it?

RS: It was pretty big. They had, like corn, sugar beets and potatoes, things like that.

TI: Now when you say pretty big, like over five acres?

RS: Oh, yeah.

TI: Over ten acres?

RS: More than that. More.

TI: So that's why he needed help.

RS: Yeah, help on that.

TI: Now did he hire other families, or was it just your family?

RS: No, just us. And then the other, there were some that went to other farms. So that's why Ontario, Nyssa, they had a lot of Japanese people, 'cause that's where they... instead of going back to the coast. Because they lost when the war started. Then, see, these Japanese farmers at that time, they had farms, but they lost it. They lost everything. So that's where the Caucasian people got it.

TI: What do you mean they "got it"?

RS: They got the farm.

TI: Oh, I see.

RS: Scot-free.

TI: Right, on the west side.

RS: Yeah.