CAMP RIVERS (BUTTE AND CANAL CAMPS)
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CAMP RIVERS (BUTTE AND CANAL CAMPS) |
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| NAME: Camp
Rivers (Butte and Canal Camps) COUNTY: Pinal ROADS: 2WD LEGAL INFO: 1 CLIMATE: Warm winters; very hot summers BEST TIME TO VISIT: Any time |
COMMENTS:
Both Butte and Canal are located on the
grounds of the Gila River Indian Reservation; take Exit 175 from I-10 west;
visit the display at the Gila River Indian facility there (which has a small
museum). Both camps are located south on Indian Route 9; Butte is about
1 mile east where the asphalt pavement ends, among orange and olive groves;
Canal is on the other side of the canal, and a bit more difficult to find.
REMAINS: Butte: a large monument, overlooking the valley and the actual site of the camp, where there are numerous foundations; Canal: extensive concrete foundations, as well as a small monument near the canal. |
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Camp Rivers, which includes the two separate camps of Butte and Canal, was another of the War Relocation Authority Camps established by President Roosevelt to house Japanese Americans (cf. Poston in AZ, and Manzanar in California). They two camps were occupied from 1942 to 1946, and housed about 13,000 individuals, making them the fourth largest city in Arizona at the time. Additional information is available from the University of Arizona's Website on the subject: www.library.arizona.edu/wracamps Submitted by: Kurt Wenner
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