Rick Just
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Author
  • Speaker
  • Contact

The "Other" Idaho Internment Camp

2/23/2019

Comments

 
​You probably know something about the Minidoka Internment Camp, sometimes called the Hunt Camp that was located near Jerome, Idaho, now the Minidoka National Historic Site.
 
Did you know there was a second Japanese internment camp in Idaho?
 
The Kooskia Internment Camp was located about 30 miles east of Kooskia on Canyon Creek. The men housed there—and they were all men—worked on the construction of U.S. Highway 12.
 
The Kooskia camp was unique among camps in the U.S. in that those housed there volunteered for the assignment. They were men of Japanese ancestry who had been placed in other internment camps, but who had volunteered to go to Kooskia because they received wages of between $55 and $65 a month. The camp’s remote location meant there was not even the need for a fence around the Canyon Creek site.  
 
A total of 256 men spent time working at the camp between May 1943 and May 1945. After the war, and with the completion of Highway 12, there was no need for the site. The buildings “walked” away or were torn down. Today only a concrete slab marks the site of the camp, which is on the Clearwater National Forest.
 
Some archaeological research has been done at the Kooskia Internment Camp, and Priscilla Wegars, PhD, has written extensively about the site. Her book As Rugged As The Terrain: CCC "Boys," Federal Convicts, And Alien Internees Wrestle With A Mountain Wilderness contains a detailed story of the camp as well as camps of different types in Idaho.
 
#kooskia #kooskiainternmentcamp
Picture
Speaking of Idaho history posts are copyright © 2020 by Rick Just. Sharing is encouraged. If you don’t find a button that lets you do that, find the post on Speaking of Idaho. If you’re missing my daily posts, select the RSS button, or select See it First under the Facebook Following tab.
Comments
    Like and follow Speaking of Idaho on Facebook and Twitter.

    Subscribe to the Speaking of Idaho newsletter

    * indicates required
    Email Format
    Picture
    The first book in the Speaking of Idaho series is out. Ask for it at your local Idaho bookstore, find it on Amazon, or, if you want a signed copy, click the button.
    Picture
    Rick's book about Fearless Farris is available on Amazon! Click the picture above to be taken to Amazon. If you'd like an autographed copy, click the button below.

    Author, Speaker

    Rick Just has been writing about Idaho history since 1989 when he wrote and recorded scripts for the Idaho Centennial Commission’s daily radio program, Idaho Snapshots. His latest book on Idaho history is Images of America, Idaho State Parks. Rick also writes a regular column for the Idaho Press.

    Rick does public presentations on Idaho's state park history and the history of the Morrisite war for the Idaho Humanities Council's Speakers Bureau.
    ​


    Check out Rick's history of Idaho State Parks.

    The audio link below is to Rick's Story Story Night set called "Someplace Not Firth"

    RSS Feed

Speaking of Idaho history posts are copyright © 2023 by Rick Just. Sharing is encouraged. If you’re missing my daily posts, select the RSS button, or select See it First under the Facebook Following tab.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you follow a link (generally to a book) from my page to an Amazon page, I get a tiny percentage of any purchase you may make.