Editing Manzanar (section)

== Background ==
[[File:LAAqueductUnlined2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Aqueduct (water supply)#Open channels|Unlined]] section of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, just south of Manzanar near [[U.S. Route 395 in California|U.S. Route 395]], 2007]]
Manzanar was first inhabited by [[Native Americans in the United States|Indigenous Americans]] nearly 10,000 years ago.<ref name="NPSHistoryCulture"/> Approximately 1,500 years ago, the area was settled by the [[Owens Valley]] Paiute,<ref name="NPSHistoryCulture">{{cite web | title=Manzanar National Historic Site: History & Culture (U.S. National Park Service) | publisher=National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior | url=http://www.nps.gov/manz/historyculture/index.htm | access-date=April 12, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212104204/http://www.nps.gov/manz/historyculture/index.htm | archive-date=February 12, 2015 | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Steward">{{cite journal | last=Steward | first=Julian H | title=Ethnography Of The Owens Valley Paiute | journal=University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology | volume=33 | issue=3 | pages=233–250 | year=1933 | url=http://users.lmi.net/kstewart/texts/ovp/ovp.pdf | access-date=May 2, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717182122/http://users.lmi.net/kstewart/texts/ovp/ovp.pdf | archive-date=July 17, 2011 | url-status=live }}</ref> who ranged across the Owens Valley from [[Long Valley Caldera|Long Valley]] on the north to [[Owens Lake]] on the south, and from the crest of the Sierra Nevada on the west to the [[Inyo Mountains]] on the east.<ref name="ThreeFarewells151">Burton (1996), p. 151.</ref> When [[European American]] settlers first arrived in the Owens Valley in the mid-19th century, they found a number of large Paiute villages in the Manzanar area.<ref name="ThreeFarewells2">Burton (1996), p. 2.</ref> John Shepherd, one of the first of the new settlers, homesteaded {{convert|160|acre|ha}} of land {{convert|3|mi|0}} north of Georges Creek in 1864. With the help of Owens Valley Paiute field workers and laborers,<ref name="Shepherd">{{cite web | title=Manzanar National Historic Site – Miners and Homesteaders (U.S. National Park Service) | url=https://www.nps.gov/manz/historyculture/miners-and-homesteaders.htm | publisher=National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior | access-date=July 26, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109065401/http://www.nps.gov/manz/historyculture/miners-and-homesteaders.htm | archive-date=November 9, 2007 | url-status=live }}</ref> he expanded his ranch to {{convert|2000|acre|ha}}.<ref name="ThreeFarewells2–3">Burton (1996), pp. 2–3.</ref>

In 1905, [[George Chaffey]], an agricultural developer from [[Southern California]], purchased Shepherd's ranch and subdivided it, along with other adjacent ranches. He founded the town of Manzanar in 1910,<ref name="Chaffey">{{cite web | title=Manzanar National Historic Site – Orchard Community (U.S. National Park Service) | publisher=National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior | url=http://www.nps.gov/manz/historyculture/orchard-community.htm | access-date=July 26, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109065407/http://www.nps.gov/manz/historyculture/orchard-community.htm | archive-date=November 9, 2007 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ThreeFarewells3">Burton (1996), p. 3.</ref> along the main line of the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/74271538/?terms=Manzanar |title= Topmost Prices for Owens Valley Apples |work= Santa Ana Register |date= March 1, 1913 |access-date= June 14, 2020 | page= 10 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> By August 1911, the town's population was approaching 200.<ref name=TheThousand>{{cite news |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/380254593/?terms=Manzanar |title= The Thousand Wonders of Productive Owens Valley; Manzanar |work= Los Angeles Times |date= August 13, 1911|at= image 88, column 5, page 10 |via= newspapers.com}}</ref> The company built an irrigation system over an area of {{convert|1000|acre|ha}} and planted about 20,000 fruit trees.<ref name="Chaffey" /><ref name=TheThousand/> By 1920, the town had more than 25&nbsp;homes, a [[two-room schoolhouse|two-room school]], a town hall, and a general [[Retail store|store]].<ref name="ThreeFarewells3" /> Also at that time, nearly {{convert|5000|acre|ha}} of apple, pear, and peach trees were under cultivation; along with crops of grapes, prunes, potatoes, corn and alfalfa; and large vegetable and flower gardens.<ref name="Chaffey" /><ref name="DeBoer">{{cite journal | last=DeBoer | first=Lucille | title=Following Manzanar: A Life Story | journal=The Album, Times & Tales of Inyo-Mono | year=1993 | url=http://www.owensvalleyhistory.com/stories2/manzanar_town.pdf | access-date=July 26, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031103658/http://www.owensvalleyhistory.com/stories2/manzanar_town.pdf | archive-date=October 31, 2007 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

As early as March 1905, the City of Los Angeles began acquiring [[water rights]] in the Owens Valley.<ref name="Smith192">Smith & Bateman (1978), p. 192.</ref><ref name="TEDCases">{{cite journal | last=Neal | first=Kevin | title=TED Case Studies: The Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Owens and Mono Lakes (MONO Case) | journal=TED Case Studies | volume=7 | issue=1 | pages=4–6 | date=January 1997 | url=http://www.american.edu/TED/mono.htm | access-date=July 23, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926060922/http://www1.american.edu/TED/mono.htm | archive-date=September 26, 2009 | url-status=live |publisher= American University }}</ref> In 1913, it completed construction of its {{convert|233|mi|km|0|adj=on}} [[Los Angeles Aqueduct]],<ref name="DWP-AqueductHistFacts">{{cite web | title=Facts and History: The Story of the Los Angeles Aqueduct | url=https://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/faces/ladwp/aboutus/a-water/a-w-losangelesaqueduct/a-w-laa-factsandhistory | publisher=Los Angeles Department of Water and Power | access-date=October 1, 2017}}</ref> In dry years, Los Angeles pumped ground water and drained all surface water, diverting all of it into its aqueduct and leaving Owens Valley ranchers without water.<ref name="Smith 196">Smith & Bateman (1978), p. 196.</ref> Without water for irrigation, the holdout ranchers were forced off their ranches and out of their communities; that included the town of Manzanar, which was abandoned by 1929.<ref name="NPSHistoryCulture" /> Manzanar remained uninhabited until the [[United States Army]] leased {{convert|6200|acre|ha}} from the City of Los Angeles for the Manzanar War Relocation Center.<ref name="NPSHistoryCulture" />