Heart Mountain, Wyoming

Heart Mountain is between Powell and Cody in Wyoming and this is a view from the Thomas the Apostle Retreat Center where we stayed in Cody. It offers an excellent setting for group retreats, with attractive rooms and exceptional meals. The three of us were fortunate enough to find them "temporarily between guests" and enjoyed their breakfasts and hospitality immensely.

The mountain itself is notable for a geological anomaly in that its peak has been formed from ancient rock that is normally found twenty five thousand feet further down toward the core of the earth!

In human terms, it was the site of a more grievous anomaly, the relocation and internment of some ten thousand Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor which launched us into World War II. At the time, it was the third largest city in the State of Wyoming.

All told, over 120,000 Americans of japanese descent were incarcerated in similar camps during the war, forced to live in substandard housing with little to no privacy and armed guards. 62% of them were fully American citizens. Most lost everything they had owned.

Though the action was claimed to be a military necessity at the time, due to the possibility of a feared invasion by Japanese forces, an official investigation at the close of the war denied that entirely. Instead, it was declared to have been completely illegal and motivated by "race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership."

An official apology was given through legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Reagan in 1988. 1.6 billion dollars in reparations were eventually given as compensation to those affected and to their heirs.

It was a profound and sobering experience to visit the dismantled site of the actual camp

~ and a powerful stimulus to prayer...