Poston (Colorado River)
United States. Army. Western Defense Command and Fourth Army. Final Report, Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942. Washington 1943, p. 252.
The Poston Relocation Center (U.S. government name) was originally known as the Colorado River Relocation Center. Like Gila River, Poston was located on a Native American reservation and under the jurisdiction of the Department of Interior. The War Relocation Authority (WRA) signed a memorandum of agreement to jointly administer the Center. Initially designed as an “Assembly” Center with construction beginning on March 27, 1942, the three camps within the concentration camp had a capacity of 20,000, making Poston the largest of all ten camps. The three separate camps, Poston I, II, and III, the new cities – dubbed Roastin’, Toastin’, and Dustin’ by the residents – reflected the extreme desert conditions. The Office of Indian Affairs, under John Collier, leased land to the WRA and directed some of the buildings to be designed by the Farm Security Administration, in consultation with the Colorado River Reservation Tribal Council. The population eventually reached 17,641. Poston closed on November 28, 1945.