Title: Manzanar
Headings: Manzanar, California
Manzanar, California
Daily Life
The Manzanar "Incident"
Establishing a Sense of Normalcy
Sources

Content: Chicken and hog farms were established but cattle were only raised for a short time because of the prohibitive cost involved. There were a number of victory gardens, and some of the experienced growers managed to cultivate fruit from about 1,000 apple and pear trees that the original farmers had planted before the town was abandoned decades earlier. Evacuees also conducted experiments for the California Institute of Technology on extracting rubber from guayule, a small woody shrub, to aid in the war effort. Money worries were a major concern among the evacuees at the outset. They believed that they would be paid Army wages although payment decisions were delayed for months, and internees were asked to "volunteer" their services to keep essential operations going. After failing to receive any pay for three months, internees protested and the turbulence resulted in the riots on December 6. To complicate matters, the resentment of the Owens Valley residents toward the Japanese Americans and the camp itself was worsening. The Manzanar "Incident"
On December 6, 1942, one of the most serious civil disturbances to occur at all the relocation centers erupted at Manzanar. Months of internal tension and gang activity had raged between members of the Japanese American Citizens League  (JACL) and many of the first-generation Japanese. Although the JACL leaders acted as representatives to the administration, the elders did not share their views and had little respect for them.