Heart Mountain Through the Lens

July 2, 2026

Each July, former detainees, their families and descendants, gather at the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center for the annual pilgrimage to reflect and remember the history and legacy of Heart Mountain Relocation Center.

More than eighty years after the opening of Heart Mountain Relocation Center, photographs, archival records, and published works continue to preserve the stories of the more than 14,000 Japanese Americans who lived in the camp during World War II. The McCracken Research Library’s collections on Heart Mountain provide researchers with valuable opportunities to explore both the history of the camp and the lives of those connected to it.

Building Heart Mountain Relocation Center

Construction of Heart Mountain Relocation Center began in the summer of 1942, transforming the sagebrush landscape into one of ten War Relocation Authority camps in the United States. Within months, hundred of barracks, schools, administration buildings, mess halls, and more had been built to house the Japanese Americans forcibly removed from their homes. At its peak on January 1, 1943, the camp held 10,767 detainees. In total, 14,025 individuals were incarcerated over the camp’s lifespan from 1942-1945.

View from hillside above of construction supplies for Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21237.26

A truck hauling barrack roof trusses with lumber in foreground at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21237.17

Workers cut lumber to build barracks at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21237.16

Workers build barracks at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.19

Workers move a pre-constructed front or end piece of a barrack at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21237.15

Workers put up a wall of a barrack at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21237.3

Construction workers build barracks at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.4

Ditch and supplies for sewer system runs between two sets of barracks at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21238.14

Workers dig the foundation for building in foreground. Partially completed hospital buildings in construction in background. Laborers from all over Big Horn Basin helped build the hospital at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21238.39

A power pole and bathtubs for installation in barracks at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21238.21

View from hillside above camp of construction workers building the barracks at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. Tar paper was later applied to the raw wooden walls of the barracks. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.17

Stepping into Heart Mountain

For thousands of Japanese Americans, arriving at Heart Mountain Relocation Center marked the beginning of life in an unfamiliar place. Families moved into hastily constructed barracks carrying only the belongings they were permitted to bring, often only what they could carry. Thus began the difficult process of creating a sense of home under extraordinary circumstances.

Trucks at train depot picks up new Japanese internees for relocation to Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.6

Japanese internees arrive by train at the stop for Heart Mountain Relocation Center. Trucks met new arrivals to take them to the barracks. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.15

Bureau of Reclamation Employee Roy Kohl leads the Fujiwara family, who were among the early arrivals, to their assigned quarters. Internees were allowed to bring little more than what they could carry. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.9

Japanese-American internees walk towards barracks carrying their luggage at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21238.12

The Landscape of Daily Life

Beyond its rows of barracks, Heart Mountain Relocation Center functioned as a vibrant community with schools, hospitals, workshops, fire departments, and various gathering places, among other things. At the same time, fences and guard towers served as constant reminders that this was a place of confinement. These photographs capture the physical setting where daily life took place.

Newly constructed barracks at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. External walls of barracks are covered with tar paper. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21237.28

Two men stand in a pen of turkeys raised to feed internees at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21237.29

Rows of barracks at Heart Mountain Relocation Center with a mess hall visible center front. Each block of barracks at the Relocation Center had two mess halls. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.5

Internees at barracks of Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.3

Man stands outside door of canteen at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21238.43

Men getting a drink from Heart Mountain Relocation Center first aid station. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21238.27

Guard standing at top of a guard tower at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. The camp perimeter included nine watch towers. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN. 89.111.21236.14

Five men on top of Heart Mountain Canal. ca. early 1940s. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21239.1

Japanese-American internees stand in the road and yards outside barracks of Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21238.41

Building a Community

Daily life at Heart Mountain was shaped by routines familiar to many communities. Children attended school, families gathered for photographs, neighbors celebrated milestones, funerals were observed, and residents found ways to maintain their traditions. These moments existed alongside the reality of incarceration, revealing the complexity of life within the camp.

Yamano family with son on leave from the Army at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.21

Japanese-American man holds his baby grandson on his lap in a barrack at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21238.10

A Japanese American soldier on military leave visits his mother and sister in their barrack at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.11

Sets Murakami and son Richard at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21237.8

Rhea Richard stands behind Guy Robertson, Assistant Director of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, with a Japanese-American family at their barrack. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21237.2

Camp director, Chris Rachford stands and shakes hands with a Japanese-American soldier while two other soldiers stand and observe in an office at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21237.14

Soldier on porch with two women at the Okano family barrack in Heart Mountain Relocation Center. The Okano family dubbed their barrack ‘Home Sweet Home’. 1944. MS 89
Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.16

Michael Hosokawa smiles as he sits at a desk made from scrap lumber from the barracks of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1944. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.7

Japanese internees descending from trucks at a mess hall at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.13

Line of internees wave at internees in back of a truck at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.12

Funeral of Clarence Uno, a former Commander of the American Union. Internees stand around casket during funeral with barracks in the background at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21236.23

A Broader Perspective

From above, Heart Mountain Relocation Center appears as an orderly grid of barracks, roads, and community buildings stretching across the Wyoming landscape. After seeing the Japanese-Americans who called Heart Mountain home, it’s impossible to view these aerial shots as simple structures on the ground. Now, they remind us that each barrack was a home to families, friends, routines, and memories that continue to shape the history of Heart Mountain today.

Heart Mountain Relocation Center under construction in the foreground with McCulloch Peaks in back and to the east. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21238.7

Aerial view of the completed Heart Mountain Relocation Center with Highway 14A along east side. 1942. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, PN.89.111.21238.11

Aerial view of Heart Mountain Relocation Center with the Shoshone River in the foreground. 1945. MS 89 Jack Richard Collection, P.89.1427

Beyond the Photograph

Photographs have the remarkable ability to preserve a single moment in time. The pictures above offer glimpses into daily life at Heart Mountain Relocation Center, but they only represent part of the historical record.

At the McCracken Research Library, these images are complemented by archival collections and published works that provide additional context and perspective. The MS 611 Heart Mountain Relocation Center collection houses memoirs, correspondence, educational materials, oral histories, newspaper clippings, and other records that document life in the camp, as well as the efforts to preserve and interpret its history in the decades since the camp’s closing. You can browse MS 611 Heart Mountain Relocation Center collection here.

Published histories, memoirs, and scholarly works provide additional context and interpretation that deepen our understanding of Heart Mountain. The McCracken’s book collection and associated bibliographies offer readers an opportunity to continue learning through a wide range of voices and perspectives. You can explore our bibliography on books relating to the history of Heart Mountain Relocation Center here.

For more information on Heart Mountain and life in the camp, visit the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center site.

McCracken Research Library Staff

Cassandra Day

Cassandra Day is the Archivist of the McCracken Research Library at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, where she specializes in the preservation, interpretation, and accessibility of historical records. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Georgia Southern University and a Master of Science in Archival Studies from Clayton State University. Additionally, she is a Certified Archivist through the Academy of Certified Archivists. Her research interests include World War II and Cold War codebreaking, oral history methodologies and best practices, and the exploration of regional identities through rodeo. She is passionate about making archival materials accessible and engaging while preserving the voices and stories that shape our understanding of the past.

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Heart Mountain Through the Lens

Building Heart Mountain Relocation Center

Stepping into Heart Mountain

The Landscape of Daily Life

Building a Community

A Broader Perspective

Beyond the Photograph

Written By

Cassandra Day

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