Bainbridge Farms, a History Lesson

I arrived in Bainbridge by way of ferry on the 29th after a long drive through the mountains. The drive wasn't really that bad. My Aunt gave me a kayak to borrow for the summer so I had that on top of my car which made for some interesting driving as I was going through northern Idaho. My aunt and I had test drove my car with the kayak on top when I was still in Kalispell and decided that a strap on the front of the boat and one on the back would be fine since it really wasn't moving around that much and when the straps that went across the center of the boat were on it made a horrible humming noise that would have drove me crazy. However, when I got to some flat land the cross winds really picked up and the boat started to rock back and forth and started sliding. So I pulled over and added a middle strap. The noise wasn't horrible, and thanks to Val and Liz for the music so I could tune it out! The kayak stayed put a lot better and I continued my journey to Bainbridge. 

I got pulled over when I was going through one of the mountain passes in Idaho... I didn't see there was a cop behind me until the lights were flashing but I knew I wasn't speeding (I had a kayak on top of my car!), and didn't think I had done anything wrong! He got out and told me that I did not have my blinker on long enough before switching lanes, apparently you are supposed to have it on for at least 5 seconds so that cars around you know what your are doing, huh. He let me off with a warning (even when I couldn't find where I had stashed my insurance) and I was off again. 

Like I said the drive was fine, it was amazing through the last mountain pass; Snoqualmie. At the highest elevation there was probably 8 feet of snow on the side of the interstate. It was snowing a little bit but not horribly so I did ok. Still, I was the slowest one far over in the right hand lane hoping that people understood when they saw my Iowa license plates. I do look forward to driving through that again though. The mountains that I was surrounded by were breathtaking. 

(Don't know why my wiper looks like that)

I made good time and arrived at Laughing Crow Farms around 5pm. I was welcomed by a big hug from Betsey who showed me the house that I would be living in. I am so glad I came up early because they were having a large Island wide event on the 70th anniversary of when they evicted all Japanese and Japanese-Americans from the Island. The house that I am living in is actually a farm house that the Suyematsu family built. Before the eviction, they had 40 acres of strawberries that their family produced. The whole island was actually internationally known for their strawberries (apparently when the Queen of England was visiting in California she requested these strawberries). The year before the eviction they had produced 3,500,000 pounds of strawberries all primarily from japanese owned farms, and the next year was supposed to be even bigger. They used dynamite to clear the trees for the fields and provided employment for a lot of people on and around the island during harvest. In the house I am living there were 3 boys and 2 girls. There is one bedroom downstairs where the girls lived (my new room), and the boys all lived upstairs. Now the upstairs has been converted into three bedrooms, where as before it was just one big room. They added on a really nice living room and porch area in the 60's that has large windows that face what is now Laughing Crow and Bentryn Farms. The Suyematsu family was evicted on March 30th, 1942. A couple of weeks before harvesting of the berries would begin. It was really a great opportunity to be here for the event, because we got to meet Eiko Suyematsu who was 13 at the time of the eviction. 

More history about the Suyematsu Farm: 

The Suyematsu family, immigrants from Japan, founded this 40 acre farm in 1928. Except for the period of Japanese American exclusion during WWII, this is the oldest, most continuously farmed land on Bainbridge Island. Mostly by hand and horse, it took three decades for the Suyematsu family to transition this land from a forest into one of the original berry farms that made Bainbridge Island the strawberry capital of the Pacific Northwest. Their eldest son, Akio, who turned 90 in 2011, has been farming this land since childhood. Starting in the late 70's the Bentryn family rented, then purchased, half of the farm to create Bainbridge Island Vineyards and Winery. Akio Suyematsu and the Bentryns mentored the next generation of master farmers (Karen Selvar, Betsey, Wittick, Brian MacWhorter, Mike Paulson, Mike Lempriere) who help farm their land and who also farm their own land on this 40 acres and elsewhere. 

Map of the 40 acres today

At the millennium, 15 acres of the Suyematsu Farm, and more than 10 acres of Bentryn Farm were purchased by the City of Bainbridge Island to be kept in perpetuity as agricultural landscape. Today, there are three landowners within the 40 acres. The publicly owned land is being managed by Friends of the Farms, and leased to local farmers. This is now the largest production farm on Bainbridge Island. Approx. 80-100 tons of food is raised each year, and is distributed throughout our local food community. Today, local schools visit these farms for edible education programs and food from these farms is being served in Bainbridge School District lunches. Since the period of Japanese American Exclusion, this farm has become one of the most inclusive places on Bainbridge Island, and one of the most unique and iconic in our region. 

Ok, ready for your history lesson about the Japanese eviction? 

Bainbridge Island was one of the first places on the west coast to evict Japanese Americans from their homes. I have heard that it was used as a test run since the island is small and it is easier to control people to and from the mainland. These Islanders became the first of what would eventually become some 120,000 immigrants and American citizens of Japanese decent forcibly removed from the U.S. West Coast by President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 during WWII. Among the 10 major incarceration camps being constructed in America's deserts and swamplands- or "relocation centers" as they were called then- one was ready enough to accommodate this first group of Japanese Americans: the Owens Valley Reception Center within the arid plains and mountains of east central California, later to be known as Manzanar War Relocation Center. Signs were posted throughout town which notified the Japanese Americans that they would have six days to get everything in order before being shipped off to Manzanar. Each person could only take what they could carry with them and were told to be prepared for subzero weather to intense heat. They had no idea where they would be going or how long they would be there. On March 30th they boarded the ferry, and on April Fools day they arrived at camp. They were forced to stay in small barracks covered with tar paper and with slots in the floor boards where sand could get in. The camp was surrounded with barb wire to keep people in and was complete with guard towers that housed soldiers with guns. Armed soldiers would also patrol the outside of the camp on foot. 50% of the residents of the camp were under the age of 18, most being small children and women since a lot of the men had been arrested by the FBI. 

The picture on the right became an icon for this event, I was able to hear Fumiko and her daughter speak at the film festival they held during the event. 

These Japanese Americans were forced to stay in camps for almost four years. After they released many of the Japanese Americans, most found they had no home, money, and were not welcomed anymore. Bainbridge was an exception for most. Some farmers had sold their land to their neighbors for a dollar and when they came back, the neighbors sold it back to them for a dollar. A lot of the men that were evicted ended up being drafted or joining the army and were key in the U.S. victory serving in the worse and most dangerous parts of the war. Akio Suyematsu was drafted and served in Germany for a couple years before finally making it  back home to the farm. I cannot imagine being forced, or choosing to serve for a government that treated the Japanese with such disrespect, but many were eager to show their patriotism and loyalty to the place were they were born and raised, even if it meant fighting against their own family in Japan. 

It has been amazing to learn so much about the place that I am now living. I know that this probably felt like a long history lesson, but I had no idea that much of this occurred and feel that people need to know about it so that it doesn't happen again. Every time there is a war, or conflict in our world we tend to stereotype all who are associated with that group. That is true still today and is not only a thing of the past. After 9/11 how many muslims or people who just looked like they were from the middle east were attacked and singled out?? You would think that we could learn from our mistakes. 

View from Betsey's bay window where I spent my first night