Topaz Interment Camp WWII

Sixteen miles northwest of Delta, the desert still holds the grid: concrete slabs, gravel streets, the footings of guard towers along a square mile once ringed with barbed wire. In April 1943 a sentry shot James Hatsuki Wakasa, sixty-three, as he walked near the fence; the killing was ruled justified. His friends built a memorial stone in defiance, then buried it when ordered to destroy it — and it lay hidden for nearly eighty years until its rediscovery in 2021. Two monuments stand here now, and nails in the dirt. Tread carefully.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Gunnison Massacre (2) Monuments — 9.1 mi
• Topaz War Relocation Center WWII — 11 mi
• Topaz Museum — 11 mi
• Fort Deseret (Black Hawk War) — 12 mi