other camps in which Americans of Japanese ancestry and their immigrant parents were imprisoned by the United States government during the war. Topaz has been referred to as a "relocation camp", "relocation center", "internment camp", and "concentration camp", and the controversy over which term is the most appropriate continued throughout the late 1990s. In a preface to a 1997 book on Topaz written and published by the Topaz Museum, the Topaz Museum Board informs readers that it is accurate to refer to the camps as a "detention camp" or "concentration camp" and its residents as "prisoners" or "internees". History In December 1941, the Imperial Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Shortly afterwards in February 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The order forced approximately 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent (Nisei) and Japanese-born residents (Issei) in California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska on the West Coast of the United States to leave their homes. About 5,000 left the off-limits area during the "voluntary evacuation" period, and avoided internment. The remaining 110,000 were soon removed from their homes by Army and National Guard troops. Topaz was opened September 11, 1942, and eventually became the fifth-largest city in Utah, with over 9,000 internees and staff, and covering approximately (mostly used for agriculture). A total of 11,212 people lived at Topaz at one time or another. Utah governor Herbert B. Maw opposed the relocation of any Japanese Americans into the state, stating that if they were such a danger to the West Coast, they would be a danger to Utah. Most internees arrived at Topaz from the Tanforan or Santa Anita Assembly Centers; the majority hailed from the San Francisco Bay Area. Sixty-five percent were Nisei, American citizens born to Japanese immigrants. The camp was governed by Charles F. Ernst until June 1944, when the position was taken over by Luther T. Hoffman following Ernst's resignation. It was closed on October 31, 1945. Topaz was originally known as the Central Utah Relocation Authority, and then the Abraham Relocation Authority, but the names were too long for post office regulations. The final name, Topaz, came from Topaz Mountain which overlooks the camp from away. Topaz was the primary internment site in the state of Utah. A smaller camp existed briefly a few miles north of Moab, which was used to isolate a few men considered to be troublemakers prior to their being sent to