An Eagle S Heart

The Eagles of Heart Mountain

“One of Ten Best History Books of 2021.” —Smithsonian Magazine For fans of The Boys in the Boat and The Storm on Our Shores, this impeccably researched, deeply moving, never-before-told “tale that ultimately stands as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit” (Garrett M. Graff, New York Times bestselling author) about a World War II incarceration camp in Wyoming and its extraordinary high school football team. In the spring of 1942, the United States government forced 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes in California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona and sent them to incarceration camps across the West. Nearly 14,000 of them landed on the outskirts of Cody, Wyoming, at the base of Heart Mountain. Behind barbed wire fences, they faced racism, cruelty, and frozen winters. Trying to recreate comforts from home, they established Buddhist temples and sumo wrestling pits. Kabuki performances drew hundreds of spectators—yet there was little hope. That is, until the fall of 1943, when the camp’s high school football team, the Eagles, started its first season and finished it undefeated, crushing the competition from nearby, predominantly white high schools. Amid all this excitement, American politics continued to disrupt their lives as the federal government drafted men from the camps for the front lines—including some of the Eagles. As the team’s second season kicked off, the young men faced a choice to either join the Army or resist the draft. Teammates were divided, and some were jailed for their decisions. The Eagles of Heart Mountain honors the resilience of extraordinary heroes and the power of sports in a “timely and utterly absorbing account of a country losing its moral way, and a group of its young citizens who never did” (Evan Ratliff, author of The Mastermind).

The Eagles of Heart Mountain

In the summer of 1942, the federal government forced 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes and sent them to concentration camps across the West. Eleven thousand of them landed on the desolate outskirts of the Wild West town of Cody, Wyoming, at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. It would be their home for the next three years. The same racism and discrimination that led to their removal continued in camp, as armed guards and FBI spies watched their every move. In that environment, little brought joy to the imprisoned. That is, until the fall of 1943, when the Heart Mountain High School football team, the Eagles, started its first season. Despite every obstacle, the Eagles ran through the competition-who traveled to the camp from majority-white high schools across Wyoming and Montana-and finished undefeated. As the team's second and final season kicked off, the federal government began drafting boys and men from the camps for the front lines. The Eagles had to choose: join the Army or resist the draft. With the war, draft, and family obligations crashing around them, they fought to keep their perfect record and their pride. Based on archival research and interviews with players, their families, former incarcerees, and camp employees, The Eagles of Heart Mountain is a book about a football team, yes. But it's more than that: it's about a group of people wronged by their government standing up and saying "Enough." Book jacket.

Where the Eagles Gather