Day 19 Sunday 9-27-15 Cody- Powell- to Landers, WY

This morning a trip to the Cody Post Office and an ATM.  While at the ATM we saw a young mule deer nibbling on the bushes at the bank.  At first we thought it was a buck but then realized from the angle we saw it we were looking at those big ears.

Our home in Cody

 

 

 

 

 

We drove up and down Sheridan Street taking videos.  Cody has put a soft spot in our hearts.  The town is clean and the people friendly.  Yes, it is a tourist trap but not with the usual tacky T-shirt shops.  Almost every store is well maintained and does not distract from the western flavor.  This is a place one could put down roots in.  (No…Don’t jump to conclusions we are not planning on pulling up stakes.) Then we drove about 20 miles north of Cody is Powell, WY. 

  

Some of the landscape along Alt US-14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Powell was the home of the Heart Mountain internment camp for Japanese people during WWII.  It was one of eighteen such sites. This place leaves you with many mixed thoughts.  Did the government do the right thing in the interest of national security?  Was it really necessary to encamp 120,000 people because for their ethnic background; forcing them to sell or desert their homes and businesses?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The state of Wyoming has a brief history of Heart Mountain at this link.

This is what they moved into:

 

 

 

 
 



Using scrap wood they made the rooms livable.  There was no privacy. 


Bathrooms were rows of outhouse seats with no partitions.  They sat shoulder to shoulder with strangers.
 

 
 

 
 

 

Many went willing at first with the idea that they were loyal proving that they would follow their governments wishes.  But reality set in that even though they were American citizens (2/3 of the detainees) they were being discriminated due to their race.  Interesting fact: Of the thousands of detainees not one of them, that were American citizens, were ever charged with espionage. 

 



 

 
 
 

 
 
 





When the Japanese were released in 1945 they were each given $25 and a train ticket to wherever they wanted to go.  Starting over from scratch with less than they had when they came to America.

Heart Mountain in the distance as seen from the Camp

After the Heart Mountain visit we headed down WY-120 South to Lander WY.  Lander is the closest place to find a campground near Fort Washakie (Wash'-akey) the burial place of Sacagawea.  Linda loves to read stories about Sacagawea and wanted to see her grave site.

We were only on WY-120 about one mile and we came upon a cattle drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About another 30 miles we came to the town of Meeteetse.  Population less than 400.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Graybull River

 

There are gates along the roadway to shut down the road for deep snows.  The signs tell you to return to the town you just passed.



 

 

 

 

 

 

The trip brought us through the Wind River Indian Reservation , Wind River State Park and the Wind River Canyon.  Excuse the bugs on the windshield but if I would have any idea what was around that curve in the road I would have stopped and gave it a good scrubbing.  Wind River Canyon is 11 miles long and descending almost the whole time.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

We arrive at Sleeping Bear RV Park and got settled in.  I set up the computer on the picnic table to type this but now the pesky skeeters are sampling my wares.    Tonight is to be the Blood Moon.  This is the first cloudy evening Lander has had in weeks. We missed the first 15 minutes of the Blood Moon.