Heart Mountain

Heart Mountain, located in northwestern Wyoming between the towns of Cody and Powell, became the third-largest city in Wyoming at its peak population. Named after the distinctive Heart Mountain peak nearby, the camp operated from August 1942 to November 1945.

Over 10,000 people from California, Washington, and Oregon were forcibly relocated to this remote location. The camp is particularly known for the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee and draft resistance that occurred there.

Heart Mountain became the site of significant organized resistance when the government reinstated the draft for Japanese American men in 1944—while their families remained imprisoned behind barbed wire.

The Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee argued that restoring their constitutional rights should precede any demand for military service. Sixty-three men were convicted and imprisoned for draft resistance, taking a principled stand against being forced to serve the country that had incarcerated them.