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The Poston War Relocation Center, located in La Paz
County was the largest of the 10 American Internment
Camps. These camps were run by the War Relocation
Authority during WWII. The Poston Relocation Center
camps were divided into three separate camps three
miles apart nicknamed Roasten, Toastin, and Dustin
by internees. These three camps, named on their
locations in the desert, were only 3 miles away from
the Colorado River. Poston was built on the Colorado
River Indian Reservation despite the objections of the
Tribal Council. The council refused to be a follower of
the others and what they did to their tribe. However,
the officials from the Bureau of Indian Affairs overrode
the Council as they saw opportunity to bring
improvements and develop the agriculutural land. The War Department budget in this descision allowed thousands of 'volunteers', or internees to stay after the war was over to aid the Reservation's permanent population. Once the third largest city in Arizona, Poston's combined population of 17,000. Most of these internees came from southern California and Arizona. These camps were built by Del Webb, who later went on to build Sun City and other retirement communities. A barb wire fence surrounded all three camps. However, Poston II and III did not have gatehouses like Poston I. All the internees and staff at one time passed through the barbed-wire perimeter at Poston I, the location of the main administration center. Poston was also a subject of a sociological research study by Alexander Leighton. He published his book in 1945, and later Time magezine described his research as "After fifteen months at Arizona's vast Poston Relocation Center as a social analyst, Commander Leighton concluded that many an American simply fails to remember that U.S. Japanese are human beings." Frustration