The arrival of some Japanese Americans from Arkansas to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in 1944.
The Heart Mountain Interpretive Center located just outside of Cody, WY.
Photo by: Kevin J. Miyazaki | courtesy of Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation
Located just 13 miles northeast of Cody, Wyoming, the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center stands as a reminder of the United States’ violation of its Japanese American citizens’ constitutional rights during World War II. At its peak, Heart Mountain housed 10,767 citizens of Japanese descent and was the fourth-largest relocation center in the United States. Via interactive exhibits, photographs and historical artifacts, the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center provides sobering insight into the lives of the people who were imprisoned there. While most of the land where the barracks were located is now privately owned and used for agricultural purposes, many other historical structures are located on camp property near the interpretive center. On the bluff above it, the Setsuko Saito Higuchi Walking Trail takes visitors on a historical tour through the former campgrounds; highlights include a reconstructed guard tower in its historical location, an original barrack (but not in its historical location) and a reconstruction of the original Honor Roll Memorial listing the names of the interned men and women of Heart Mountain Relocation Center who served in the U.S. military.
The arrival of some Japanese Americans from Arkansas to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in 1944.
Five little girls sit outside of a barrack at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center.
A man and child at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center.
Japanese American internees gardening at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center.
Japanese American internees stand on either side of a barbed wire fence at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center.
Ike Hatchimonji examines a photo of the barracks during the grand opening on the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center in 2011. Hanging on the barbed wire encasing the photograph is a tag with the inscription, “To the memory of those who were imprisoned here."
An imprisoned Japanese American in his barrack room.
A recreation of a barrack at the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center that housed the Japanese Americans while imprisoned.
An exhibit detailing how the Japanese Americans were removed from their homes and forcibly incarcerated, complete with historical artifacts such as luggage.
The reconstructed guard tower on the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center grounds.
This map helps to give visitors a sense of what structures once stood in the grounds and what now stands in their place.
The original Honor Roll built by the internees.
The reconstructed Honor Roll at the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center.
The hospital mess hall in 1984.
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