May 22, 2007

• Nez Perce, Kooskia, and Moscow, ID

  I mentioned that I’m planning to drive a big chunk of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail. (Nez Perce Trail Foundation, Nez Perce National Historical Park)

  It shares a lot with the Lewis and Clark National Historical Trail, which is, of course, highly ironic.

  And it also shares a lot with the accomplishment of a couple hundred American citizens of Japanese descent who were interred near Kooskia, ID, where they were ‘employed’ to work on what would become US highway 12.

  I’m re-capping all this so no one has to re-read the rambling post about it earlier.

  The point here is that I read about a book that was maybe going to be published by a researcher who is focusing on Kooskia. I emailed her to find out if it was in the process of being published, but it hasn’t found a deal yet. But we’ve had an amiable couple of emails about the topic, and I discovered that I was about 30 miles off! The camp was not located near the town, as I’d believed, based on a Google Earth layer available here. Instead, it’s near a USFS campground, just off the road, right in the middle of the mountains.

  The researcher is Priscilla Wegars, PhD, and her book is tentatively titled, “Imprisoned in Paradise: Federal Convicts and Japanese Internees Build a Highway in the Wilderness.” She also graciously offered to send me a pamphlet she developed around the topic. I’m not sure who the audience is supposed to be (it emphasizes Californians who were interred in Kooskia, and it’s only 8 pages, so…).

  And, there’s another interesting story: That of Toraichi Kono, who ended up in Kooskia. The link takes you to the myspace page for a documentary being made about Kono.

  • 12:21 am
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