» Tulelake California

Tulelake- Intersection of Nature

Homesteading

Tulelake is the southern end of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
photos-Bureau of Reclamation and Anders Tomlinson

The United States in 1900 needed to expand and open new settlements for it’s growing population. It was truly time to go west. The concept was to dam and redirect river water to areas that could grow food and start towns. The harnessed water would also create much needed power. The southwest would become the new population frontier and resulting economic bonanza. Opening the southwest also opened opportunities for European emigrants to start new lives. Reclamation had global implications.

Here, in the Upper Klamath Basin there was water, a key element for settlement. In fact, there was an excess of water that had to be drained.
And so it was that Tule Lake and Lower Klamath Lakes became fertile farm land controlled
by diversions. Czech settlers migrated to farm. Lucky World War I and II veterans,
lottery winners, were invited to homestead. The Klamath Reclamation Project was successful.
Engineers were able to move, or remove, water, where and when needed. Upper Klamath Basin could support a larger human population. Settlement of the west had begun.

Tule Lake Basin in early summer, made green by the hand of man.
photo-Anders Tomlinson

Headline Makers

Tulelake Homesteaders were on the cover of Life Magazine in 1946. Articles on the
Japanese-American Segregation camp were in Life Magazine during World War II.
In 2001, Klamath Reclamation Project water shutoff made evening news across the nation
and the world. The last Indian War in California, and the first to be reported internationally,
was the Modoc Indian War fought in what is now the Lava Beds National Monument.
The Applegate Trail and Lassen Trail traveled through Tule Lake basin with eastern settlers
headed north and south. Earlier, tribes crisscrossed the basin.
This is an intersection of human nature.

We Learn from our Past

Reclamation brought farming and Tulelake to Tule Lake Basin.
photos-Anders Tomlinson

The Tulelake documentary provides an opportunity to witness migration. A film trilogy is underway. One, the spring waterfowl migration. Two, reclamation of the west. Three, the forced migration of Japanese-Americans. Other historic migrations include Native Americans, Czech settlers and the Hispanic influx. There is also an undertone of federal agency migration.
The rifts and faults of the land and the building and collapsing of mountains,
are also reminders that land forms themselves are migrating.

editorAnders, February 23rd 2010 | Tags: Klamath River Watershed, Tulelake California, Anders Tomlinson
Posted in Tulelake California

Tulelake: Farming and Refuge working together.

Millions of visitors come each year to a land of harvests and growing families.

Tulelake, Tule Lake, Tule Lake Basin… you say potato, I say grebe, you say coyote, I say horseradish, you say harriers, i say cattle, you say pelicans, I say grain, you say mint, I say osprey, you say antelope, I say alfalfa and on and on and on… here is the nature of reclaimed lake bed used by farmers, wildlife and nature watchers. This land is alive in many more ways than controversial media sound bites and headlines you may have seen and heard.

Pelicans rest on the bank of a flooded field as farm equipment passes by. photo-Anders Tomlinson

Delivering water to soil that was once a lake bed.

Tule Lake Basin is crisscrossed by Tulelake Irrigation District’s 600 miles of canals- that’s 1,200 miles of shoreline. Water is moved back and forth from farm fields to drains, back to farms, or the lake or U.S. Fish and Wildlife projects. Today, the amount of water used in a year could be less than what naturally evaporated from old Tule Lake. Seasons dance under passing clouds and deep blue skies. A Year in the Life through photos and words.

Around the year, if there is water in irrigation canals there is wildlife.
photo-AndersTomlinson

A modern relationship between man and migrating waterfowl.

I have had people tell me that other people have told them that Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge is too geometric with all the rectangular farm fields. Everywhere there are right angles, so unnatural for wildlife. I laugh. I wonder where those people live. The chances are their homes were built on land that was once wildlife habitat. It is also possible the land was graded and plated into grids. And in Southern California the lush landscaping, fueled by borrowed water, strived to break up the squares. How can these folks look at wildlife thriving in Tule Lake Basin and say their Tule lifestyle is unbecoming?

Wildlife takes advantage of everything it is aware of. It has been said what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Can it be said what is good for man is good for geese? Or what is good for geese is good for man? There are few habitats left that migrating waterfowl can use. Places like Tulelake are all that these migrations have. Wildlife use Tulelake refuge and farmland to survive.

Looking south from hills behind Merrill and Malin, Oregon.
photo-Anders Tomlinson

Mother nature does what she does.

The springs of 2007 and 2008 in the Upper Klamath Basin were wet. Relatively undeveloped refuge such as Upper Klamath Lake and Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuges had so much water there was no where for birds to put nests. Nests were being built on canal fed Tule and Lower National Wildlife Refuges. Man’s ability to manage water levels provided wildlife with safe nesting areas. Free flowing nature can be a killer, as well as a provider. Despite man’s researched predictions, whatever the research intentions may be, the world doesn’t always follow projected mathematical models. The story of Tulelake is both ancient and modern. It is a story of accommodation and cooperation. One needs to visit, linger, listen and watch with willing and open eyes. The future of man and wildlife plays out before you.

editorAnders, February 18th 2010 | Tags: Tulelake California, Anders Tomlinson, Klamath Basin Refuges, Spring Waterfowl Migration
Posted in Tulelake California

Tule Lake Internment Camp

During World War II, 120,000 Japanese-Americans were incarcerated in Federal relocation centers: one out of four spent time at Tule Lake.

Tule Lake Internment covered much of ground seen here including the town of Newell.
photo-Anders Tomlinson

Designed to hold 10,000 internees within a square mile Tule Lake began construction in April 1942. One month later, internees began arriving from Northern California, Washington and Oregon. Confinement peaked at 18,789. Nearly 30,000 were imprisoned at Tule Lake which remained open until 1946, the last Federal relocation center to close.

Tule Lake Internment Camp was the largest and most infamous because in July 1943 it became Tule Lake Segregation Center. Internees from other relocation centers who refused to sign a loyalty oath or caused disturbances were sent to Tule Lake.

An American Story that should never be forgotten.
Hiroshi Kashiwagi shares his poem a Meeting In Tule Lake. Hiroshi’s life is a great American story. His days in the Tule Lake Interment – Segregation Camp are one of many chapters: poet, playwright, memoirist, librarian, student, civil rights advocate, actor, son, husband, father… His narration for this film was recorded in 2006 by Anders Tomlinson at Hiroshi’s San Francisco basement with Jimi Yamaichi assisting. Anders Tomlinson edited the archival still images and his Pilgrimage video footage with Hiroshi’s powerful reading and Denver Clay’s piano music, recorded in Tulelake, CA. Produced by Anders Tomlinson, Hiroshi Kashiwagi and Jimi Yamaichi. ©2012 Hiroshi Kashiwagi and Anders Tomlinson, all rights reserved. Special thanks to the Tule Lake Committee for their support and encouragement.
To watch more Tule Lake Internment – Segregation Center videos by Jimi Yamaichi and Anders Tomlinson visit My Face Was My Crime .

Modern times
In 2006, 43 acres were designated a National Historic Landmark. Some haunting reminders- a concrete jail house, leaning-tar-papered barracks, bathroom floors, sewage tanks, guard towers and barb wire fencing. Today, there are pilgrimages, film crews, federal caretakers and fading recollections.

In December 2008, Tule Lake became WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument, Tule Lake Unit. Including Tule Lake in our National Park System will help ensure preservation of the site for future generations to learn first-hand from the lessons of this grave injustice.

Pilgrimages are held that spend several days in Tulelake and Klamath Falls.
photo-Anders Tomlinson.

Jimi Yamaichi spent a great deal of time over six years helping me interview internees. My first day with Jimi was filming a tour of the former internment center’s grounds. One of the many interviews Jimi arranged was with Hiroshi Kashiwagi. Several sessions later Hiroshi performed a spirited reading of his poem A Meeting in Tule Lake. This narration was used for an eight minute film. Three pilgrimages were also documented. For more internment information visit Tule Lake Internment Camp videos.

Jimi at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose.
photo-Anders Tomlinson

editorAnders, February 18th 2010 | Tags: Tulelake California, Tule Lake Internment Camp, Anders Tomlinson
Posted in Tule Lake Internment Camp

Fields of Splendor

The spring waterfowl migration to Tulelake-Klamath Falls is a sight to behold. Millions have enacted this yearly passage for thousands of years. Fields Of Splendor follows the spring migration from early February through late May. It also visits arctic breeding grounds and California wintering spots including Sacramento and Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuges. Common denominators are bodies of water surrounded by farmland.

Snow geese rise off a farm field near Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
photo-Anders Tomlinson

Watching a lake surface, or farm field, explode with a riotous rising of thousands of geese can take one’s breath away. One becomes part of the excitement as the geese circle overhead. How, and why, do they do what they do? Fields of Splendor makes sense of the coming and goings of Snow, Speckled and Canadian geese finding food and refuge on Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges and Tulelake farmland. Spring Migration video.

The script for Fields of Splendor was written by Dr. Lawrence Powers. Soundtrack is by SonicAtomics. Editing will begin in the Fall or 2012.

editorAnders, February 17th 2010 | Tags: Tulelake California, Crater Lake - Lava Beds, Anders Tomlinson, Fields of Splendor, Klamath Basin Refuges, Spring Waterfowl Migration
Posted in Tulelake Waterfowl Migration

Tulelake: Crossroads in History

Tulelake, California, just south of the Oregon border, was greatly impacted by the 2001 water shutoff. For numerous small family farms it was an unexpected end to a honorable way of life. Like all farmers, they had little security other than their faith that tomorrow would be a better day. And then the water was shut off…

Generation after generation raises our food and fiber.

Robert Ganey singing about living in the fields of America. Video shot in the farm land and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge surrounding Tulelake, California.

Under twenty feet of water…

Anders shooting southwest at Medicine Lake, Mt. Shasta and Tule Lake Basin.
Photo-Rob Crawford

A hundred years ago Tule Lake advanced and receded across the Tule Lake Basin. At that time, the current town of Tulelake was under twenty-some feet of water in the spring.
Much of the lake was a shallow evaporation pond. All of the Upper Klamath Basin, of which the Tule Lake Basin is part, is in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains. Throughout history, there have been wet periods and dry periods. Tule Lake would fluctuate accordingly. Today, the watershed above Iron Gate Dam comprises 38% of the Klamath River Watershed and provides 12% of the water, in a wet year.
For more geographical information visit Klamath River Watershed .

Looking at present day Tule Lake from Sheepy Ridge. photo-Anders Tomlinson

This is the northwest corner of the Great Basin. The Lost River began six miles east of Tulelake and traveled some 90 miles in a meandering circle north, west and south before draining into Tule Lake, not the Pacific Ocean. Today, a diversion canal sends much of the Lost River directly to the Klamath River.

The reclaimed lake bed, enriched with thousands of years of waterfowl migrations, has some of the planet’s richest soil. In an era of farmland constantly being taken out of production it is easy to make a case for good soil becoming endangered. This flies in the face of a concept that the next 50 years will require as much food to be raised as was grown in the past 10,000 years. Tulelake Irrigation District receives the vast majority of its water from the Klamath Reclamation Project. The district also has wells that were drilled during the 2001 water shutoff. A few farmers also dug wells.

Klamath Reclamation Project was the second effort, following Imperial Valley in Southern California, that proposed diverting water to promote developing the arid southwest. The Federal Government’s recent success building the Panama Canal provided tools, experience and brain power to rechannel rivers, build power dams, irrigate deserts and drain lakes into productive farmland. If people were to settle these developing lands they would need food and jobs. Farming offered both. For more information visit Klamath Reclamation history.

Farming and Refuge co-existing in Tulelake, California.
photo-Anders Tomlinson

Today, farming is looked at by many as a problem to be eradicated as if it were an infestation. These are the very same people who need food and water to exist. For those in the urban Southwest who want farming ended to save species there is another alternative, leave the southwest and reduce the demand on resources that many species need. Go somewhere that can support a human population along with the wildlife. This sounds extreme, but, reality is reality and human nature is human nature. Power and water demands need to subside in population centers. Each purchase or activity has multiple consequences, many unintended. Sitting in living rooms and writing checks for political movements and special interests doesn’t remove pressures created by cities which effect wildlife hundreds of miles away. As example, salmon are more impacted by urbanization than anything happening in rural America. Places like Tulelake do more per capita to help wildlife, and humans, than any Southwest city. Places like Tulelake export and provide. Places like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix import and receive. The story of Tulelake, truly a crossroads in history, is worth telling.
FFA, teaching the next generation how to provide.

Projects that have been shot in the Tule Lake Basin include Homesteading in a Promised Land, Fields of Splendor , Farmland , Walking Wetlands, Stepping Stones, Efficient Irrigation,
My Face Was My Crime, A Year in the Life and many others.
This is an American story of success told by the strong people who make their living off the land in a frontier setting.

editorAnders, February 16th 2010 | Tags: Klamath River Watershed, Tulelake California, Crater Lake - Lava Beds, Anders Tomlinson
Posted in Tulelake California

Tulelake: A Graphic Rest Stop

In 2008 Anders designed eight square panels, each 48 inches tall, for a community rest stop at the intersection of Highway 139, and Main Street in Tulelake. It clearly showcases places and things one can enjoy if they leave the highway and explore the surrounding landscape.