Manzanar

What can one say about Manzanar, Heart Mountain, or any other Japanese internment camp, that is good?  American citizens; torn from their homes, businesses, families; for some, forever.


Just a few miles North of Lone Pine was located the abandoned townsite of Manzanar, California.  It was here in the Spring of 1942, that the U S Army built a one square mile camp that would come to hold a total of 10,000 Japanese American Citizens and Japanese immigrants.  Each of those 10,000 had a story.  Manzanar tells a number of them.

The camp closed on November 21, 1945.  It wasn't until the 1980's that a congressional commission concluded that it was "a dark time fueled by war hysteria, racial prejudice, and a failure of political leadership".  Over 82,000 Presidential apology letters were issued to surviving internees, along with checks for $20,000, between 1990 and 1999.  That seems a small gesture for almost four years of confinement, along with the loss of homes, businesses, and in many cases, loved ones...jc

The Alabama Hills

Though it has been over a month since our visit to the Alabama Hills, I thought I would put together a few pictures that will help you appreciate the beauty of the area.  The first pictures are of the three most prominent arches within the recreation area. Mobius Arch is the largest.

 

The smallest being Heart arch.

And, what I thought the best to photograph, The Eye of Alabama.

 

 

The landscape is eye candy in most every direction.

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, there have been hundreds of movies filmed in the area since the silent movie days.  One of the things available for purchase at the museum is a booklet that gives the locations of a number of movie shots.  We set out one morning to see how many we could find. 

Compare the cracks in the rock.

Compare the rock formations on the right side.

                                The van is parked under the bridge.

          Scene of the wagon wreck. 1500 pairs of moccasins?

Besides movies, there were other interests in the area back in the day.

I wonder if he ever struck it rich.

I would recommend a visit to Lone Pine, and the Alabama Hills, to everyone.  It is a beautiful area, backing up to the Eastern Sierra's.  The desert landscape, with the mountains so close, is stunning.  Mt. Whitney overlooks the entire area.

....jc