Camp Amache Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war against Japan many Americans believed that the Japanese-Americans were spies or traitors. In fact, very few Japanese-Americans were disloyal but the hysteria revolving around the war led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9066, which authorized the Secretary of War to set up military areas where Japanese-Americans from the West Coast would be sent until their loyalty was proven and they could work and live outside the camps. Evacuees were first sent to assembly centers in California, Arizona, Washington and Oregon. People with as little as 1/16 Japanese blood could be sent to these centers. The Japanese-Americans had as little as 6 days notification to dispose of most of their property and possessions before they were transported. Many were forced to sell property at well under market value while assets of the Japanese immigrants were frozen leaving them with few possessions or savings. The federal government then transferred these internees further in-land to such camps as one near Granada, Colorado. It was located 140 miles east of Pueblo in southeastern Colorado. Since the postal designation for the camp was “Amache” it was called both “Granada” and “Amache”. It was in operation by August of 1942 and officially closed October 15, 1945. At its maximum population it held 7,318 people. Amache is located on Highway 385 near Granada Colorado between Lamar and Holly. Today the camp is a lonely, desolate place on the high prairie, covered by scrubby vegetation and small cacti. All of the buildings were torn down or sold and hauled off, and the cement foundations remain. After the war the land was not sold back to the original owners, but to the highest bid. Signs were added, showing locations of schools, laundries, dining halls, clinics, fire station, etc. The highway signs identify the place only as Camp Amache.     Colorado Green Location: Lamar, CO Prowers County Development Inc. The 162 megawatt Colorado Green Wind Power Project, located 20 miles south of the Town of Lamar, was developed to help meet Colorado's demand for renewable electricity. Completed in late 2003, the project uses 108 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines. The project is owned by PPM Energy, Inc. and Shell WindEnergy Inc. in a 50/50 joint venture. The Colorado Green development was born through a competitive bidding process initiated by Public Service of Colorado where it competed with others forms of electricity generation including natural gas and coal fired generation and was found to be the lowest cost alternative. The Colorado Green Project resides on about 11,000 acres used as a working cattle ranch. Less than 2% of the project's land area is used by the actual footprint of the wind turbines, leaving most of the land available for other purposes, including ranching and grazing. In addition to the Colorado Green Project, Lamar Light & Power (LL&P) is generating power from two 1.5 MW GE wind turbines owned by ARPA and three 1.5 MW GE Wind turbines owned by LL&P. Traveling south from Lamar on Highway 287, the municipal utilities' project can be seen on the left (east) about 15 miles outside of Lamar. This project benefited from economies of scale and training availability from the larger nearby Colorado Green project. Fueled by Colorado's winds, Prowers County's new wind project generates new income from local farmers, boosts the local tax base, attracts tourists, and uses the clean, green power of the wind to deliver electricity to Colorado consumers.

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