Life at Camp

The Japanese people constructed their own high school which cost them an astounding $308,000. The school had 500-plus students. The school formed its own sports teams and played many area schools. In fact they played against Holly, a town about ten miles east of the camp, when Governor Roy Romer was on Holly's team. Only one game in three years was lost by the Amache football team; they were defeated by a team from a Denver high school.

A few distinguishing facts about camp Amache are: Amache housed the only silk screen shop in Colorado. they had their own hospital with inmate doctors. The doctors were paid sixteen dollars a month. The X-ray machine used at Amache was later sent to Prowers Medical Center in Lamar, a town about 17 miles west, where it was used for eleven more years. The Amache police station was manned by the Japanese-Americans. They printed their own newspaper, The Granada Pioneer. Mr. Ishi, who drew many of the cartoons for the newspaper at Amache, was a Walt Disney cartoonist.

 

 

 

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The Amache camp did have a fire department. It was under the direction of Acting Fire Protection Officer Paul W. Newland. A Caucasian assistant , an evacuee chief, three assistant chiefs, six captains, and three platoons of fifteen fireman manned the two-truck firestation 24 hours a day under Newland. Up to December 31, 1943 the fire department had responded to 69 alarms from barricks, laundry rooms, mess halls, grass and open fires which over the years amounted to a total of $720.00.
Graduation at High School
Newspaper staff for The Granada Pioneer
Football game at Camp Amache

 

 

 

 

Life at Camp Amache was a drastic change for the Japanese Americans who were sent there. They had come from a nice, green environment in California to a desolate community that was still suffering from the dust bowl. The living quarters at Amache were horrid. Originally barracks were 20'x100' divided into five 20'x20' rooms or apartments. The exterior walls and roofs were generally of shiplap or other sheating covered with tarpaper. Some of the floors at Amache were brick while others concrete. None of the buildings had insulation, therefore, it was bitterly cold in the winter and extremely hot during the summer.One recreation building was constructed for each evacuee housing block. This is a 20'x100' structure without partitions and has no equipment other than heaters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The camp boasted and said to be the best hospital in South Eastern Colorado. Roy T. Chamberline, hospital administrator and Nellie S. Parks, chief nurse
The Japanese adapted quickly by planting trees throughout the camp for shade. They also planted gardens for recreation and had their own farms where unique vegetables, as well as vegetables commonly known to the area, were grown.