In 1877, the United States Army established Fort Missoula in Montana to protect American settlers who were invading and squatting on land reserved for the Bitterroot Salish (also known as the Flatheads). The Army was to protect the paranoid American settlers from any potential response by the Indians. In 1891, the Army force-marched the Indians to their new home on the Jocko (now Flathead) Reservation north of Missoula. In the twentieth century, Fort Missoula served as a training center during World War I and then, during World War II it was turned over to the Department of Immigration and Naturalization for use as an alien detention center for non-military Italian men and as a concentration camp for Japanese-American men who were considered “high risk” because of their race and/or religion. Today, the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula (HMFM) has preserved two of the internment barracks. The barracks were built by the detainees.
Shown above is the memorial outside of the barracks. It notes that “None in either group were ever charged with being or proven to be enemy agents.”
Shown above is the barracks which currently houses a series of displays about the internment period. While the building is original to the internment period, it was moved from its original location to the HMFM Campus.
Another barracks.
An aerial view of the detention center.
Another aerial view of Fort Missoula in 1942.
Shown above is one of the guard towers.
Displays
Italians
When the war broke out in 1939, a number of foreign ships were stranded in U.S. harbors. In March, 1941, the crews from these ships were taken into protective custody. A total of 1,300 Italians were taken into custody.
In 1941, prior to the formal entry of the United States into World War II, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) established alien detention centers for Italian and German sailors at Fort Missoula and Fort Lincoln, North Dakota. Fort Missoula had many buildings that could be quickly repurposed to house the interned Italians. By May, 1941 sixteen wood-framed barracks were shipped to Fort Missoula for housing. The barracks held 40-60 men (40 square feet of living space for each man). At Fort Missoula, the Italian seamen and the Italian ships’ officers had separate quarters. In May 1941, the Italians began to arrive at Fort Missoula.
Shown above: Italians arriving at Fort Missoula.
Shown above is the Italian bakery.
At Fort Missoula, the Italians were allowed to be self-governing. The Italians had their own laundry, cooking facilities, and areas for recreation.
With the labor shortage caused by the war, the INS allowed the Italian detainees to work outside of Fort Missoula. The Italians worked as gardeners, as chefs, and as maintenance men and orderlies at the Missoula hospital. According to one of the displays:
“The men quickly became integrated into the Missoula community, attending local church services and community events.”
The Japanese-Americans
Shortly after the bombing of the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Federal Bureau of Investigation rounded up about 1,000 Japanese men and sent them to Fort Missoula. This included both American born Japanese (U.S. citizens) and immigrants who were barred by law from becoming citizens. Those who were interned were primarily men who were leaders in Japanese communities on the West Coast. Two months later, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which called for the forced relocation of all Americans of Japanese descent to concentration camps run by the War Relocation Authority.
The first Japanese arrived at Fort Missoula on December 18, 1941. Most of the Japanese were imprisoned at Fort Missoula for only a short time—often only a couple of months—while the government determined their fate. According to one of the displays:
“For these men, Fort Missoula was only one stop on a wartime journey filled with fear, uncertainty, and feelings of powerlessness. Their lives were completely uprooted as they endured long separations from loved ones and property seizures. As the country’s most historically intact internment camp, Fort Missoula offers visitors a valuable window into the troubling history of Japanese imprisonment during World War II.”
Shown above is Japanese internee Dr. Kozo Tamaki.
Beginning with the Naturalization Act of 1790, the United States restricted citizenship to people considered “white”. The term Issei refers to first generation Japanese immigrants and the Issei were not allowed to obtain citizenship until 1952. According to one of the displays:
“Despite this denial of citizenship, Issei settled in the United States and built homes and communities. Their children, the Nisei (second generation), achieved something by their birth on American soil that was denied to their parents: American citizenship. The Nisei were Japanese Americans. The Issei, barred from attaining citizenship, were considered Japanese and categorized as ‘aliens’ by the US government, no matter how long they had lived in the country.”
While Executive Order 9066 impacted by Issei and Nisei, at Fort Missoula only Issei were imprisoned.
FBI surveillance of the Issei began in the 1930s and by the time the war began, the FBI had compiled extensive files on the Issei. In the three days following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the government arrested 1,291 Japanese and by November 1942, 5,334 Japanese had been arrested.
At Fort Missoula, each of the Issei appeared before an Alien Enemy Hearing Board. According to one of the displays:
“The boards operated on an assumption of guilt. Innocence had to be proven, yet the Issei were not allowed to have any legal representation and were not informed of the supposed crimes.”
Another display reports:
“The hearing boards did not uncover any cases of espionage or sabotage, yet the vast majority of men who appeared before them remained incarcerated in an Army camp, a DOJ camp, or a WRA camp for the duration of the war.”
Shown above is a Japanese funeral at Fort Missoula.
Some Examples
In looking at an overview of the confinement of the Japanese Americans during World War II, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that this disgraceful, racist episode of American history impacted people. The displays provide several examples of the impact of internment on individuals.
Masuo and Minoru Yasui: Masuo Yasui came to the United States in 1903 at the age of 16. In Hood River, Oregon, he became part owner of a general store and several fruit farms. Masuo and his wife Shidzuyo had five sons and two daughters, all born in Hood River. The hearing board at Fort Missoula described him as “intelligent, crafty, and arrogant” and therefore “dangerous to the public peace and safety.” The board recommended internment. He was imprisoned until January 8, 1946. He obtained citizenship in 1953 and died in 1957.
Masuo’s son, Minoru, was an attorney and a U.S. citizen by birth. In 1942, he was arrested for challenging the military curfew imposed on persons of Japanese descent. He took his case to the Supreme Court which upheld the validity of Executive Order 1066. He was imprisoned at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Midori Arthur Simoda: Midori came to the United States in 1919 at the age of 9. All of his younger siblings were born in the U.S. and were thus U.S. citizens. By 1928, he was established in Pasadena, California as a highly skilled photographer. In 1942 he was arrested for having a camera—something prohibited for alien enemies. At Fort Missoula, the board determined that he was not a threat and paroled him. He became a citizen in 1955.
Iwao Matsushita: Iwoa came to the United States in 1919 at the age of 27. In 1940, he went to work for the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Seattle. He was arrested on December 7, 1941 and was among the first group of Issei to arrive in Fort Missoula. While the Alien Enemy Hearing Board recommended parole, this was overruled by the U.S. Attorney General who felt that his close ties to Japanese businesses and cultural institutions made him a threat. He remained at Fort Missoula until October 1943. He was at Fort Missoula longer than any other Issei. He spent the remainder of the war at the concentration camp in Minidoka, Idaho. He obtained citizenship in 1954.
Latin American Japanese
During the first part of the war, the United States wanted to create a reserve of Japanese prisoners which could be used to trade with Japan for American who had been interned in Japan. According to one of the displays:
“During the war, the US government, in close cooperation with numerous Latin American countries, transported more than 2,200 persons of Japanese ancestry, 80% of them from Peru, to the United States in a quasi-legal kidnapping program.”
More than 150 of the Latin American Japanese move through Fort Missoula. According to one of the displays:
“Many of the Latin American Japanese were deported to Japan, including Nisei Spanish speakers who had never set foot in their ancestral homeland.”
More museum photo tours
Fort Missoula: One-room schoolhouse (photo diary)
Fort Missoula: Homestead cabin (photo diary)
Fort Missoula: A model railroad display (photo diary)
Campbell House: The laundry (photo diary)
Campbell House: Overview (photo diary)
Campbell House: Library and reception (photo diary)
Dressing Downton Abbey: Overview (photo diary)
Dressing Downton Abbey: Formal Dining (photo diary)
