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The Colorado River Indian Reservation, within which Poston was built, was established in 1865. The close proximity of the Colorado River made habitation and agriculture possible, despite the desert conditions. However, infrastructure in the remote area was poor; the Office of Indian Affairs, the federal agency that ran the reservation system, saw the planned camp as an opportunity to obtain roads, irrigation, and other necessities for economic development without having to fund them. The decision to take Poston's 71,000 acres was opposed by the Tribal Council on the grounds that they did not wish to participate in an injustice, but they were overruled by the Office of Indian Affairs and the army. One of the earliest to begin operations, it was the largest of the WRA camps in size and also in population, holding more inmates than any other "regular" camp; Tule Lake's population exceeded Poston's but only after it became the "segregation center." Building Poston was a massive undertaking, involving the construction not only of hundreds of buildings but also new irrigation canals and roads, in a desert area so remote that guard towers were considered unnecessary. Poston was the only facility under joint WRA and OIA administration, a status which changed in 1943 when the WRA took over sole control.

Poston's inmates came largely from farming areas of Central and Southern California. Unusually, roughly two thirds of the inmates came directly to Poston from their homes, the remainder coming through various assembly centers, among them Salinas, Santa Anita, and Pinedale, as well as the Mayer Assembly Center in Arizona. This had two major consequences. First, Poston did not have the opportunity to benefit from experiences gained with running the assembly centers, and so especially in the earliest days, conditions were sometimes chaotic as inmates and administrators alike tried to figure out how things would work. Second, the qualified "improvement" in conditions from the Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA)-run horse stalls and fairgrounds of the assembly centers to the more permanent WRA camps was not experienced by most at Poston, either in terms of conditions or housing; in fact, the use of materials unsuited to the desert meant that repairs were necessary even as, and in some cases before, inmates moved in. As with Manzanar, the other camp where large numbers were sent directly from their homes, volunteer early arrivals had greater opportunities than those who came later, and since most positions were assigned by the administration, this gave rise to a perception that some early arrivals were more aligned with the administration than with their fellow inmates.

Upon completion, Poston consisted of three "units" separated from each other by approximately three miles, on a roughly northeast-southwest line. The inmates generally referred to them as "camps" rather than "units" and nicknamed them "Roasten," "Toasten" and "Dustin." A single fence surrounded the entire facility. Camp I, the northernmost, the first constructed, and the gateway to the other two, was roughly twice as large as Camps II and III. It contained the administrative headquarters, the hospital, and other centralized support facilities for the entire facility, as well as staff housing. A separate area outside the Camp I fence contained the army guards' barracks and additional staff accommodations. The site was large enough that even the farm areas were within the outer perimeter fence. At its peak population of 17,814, Poston was the third largest "city" in Arizona.

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The Colorado River Indian Reservation, within which Poston was built, was established in 1865. The close proximity of the Colorado River made habitation and agriculture possible, despite the desert conditions.

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Date Opened	June 2, 1942Date Closed	November 28, 1945

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Date Opened	June 2, 1942Date Closed	November 28, 1945

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http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Poston_(Colorado_River)/

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The decision to take Poston's 71,000 acres was opposed by the Tribal Council on the grounds that they did not wish to participate in an injustice, but they were overruled by the Office of Indian Affairs and the army. One of the earliest to begin operations, it was the largest of the WRA camps in size and also in population, holding more inmates than any other "regular" camp http://encyclopedia.densho.org/http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Poston_(Colorado_River)/_(Colorado_River)/

# data[].attributes.subject
The decision to take Poston's 71,000 acres was opposed by the Tribal Council on the grounds that they did not wish to participate in an injustice, but they were overruled by the Office of Indian Affairs and the army. One of the earliest to begin operations, it was the largest of the WRA camps in size and also in population, holding more inmates than any other "regular" camp http://encyclopedia.densho.org/http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Poston_(Colorado_River)/_(Colorado_River)/

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Poston was named after Charles D. Poston, a noted figure in early Arizona history who was also the first Superintendent for Indian Affairs in Arizona. Officially designated the "Colorado River Relocation Center http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Poston_(Colorado_River)/

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Poston was named after Charles D. Poston, a noted figure in early Arizona history who was also the first Superintendent for Indian Affairs in Arizona. Officially designated the "Colorado River Relocation Center http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Poston_(Colorado_River)/

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Video for poston war relocation center▶ 4:20Nov 8, 201

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Video for poston war relocation center▶ 4:20Nov 8, 201

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 As a result, more than 110,000 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry, most of them American citizens, were evicted from the West Coast and transported to 10 internment camps across the country. https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/local/history/2015/04/24/arizonas-military-history-poston-memorial-monument/26201191/

# data[].attributes.subject
 As a result, more than 110,000 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry, most of them American citizens, were evicted from the West Coast and transported to 10 internment camps across the country. https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/local/history/2015/04/24/arizonas-military-history-poston-memorial-monument/26201191/