米カリフォルニア州の自然保護団体アメリカン・リバー・コンサーバンシー（ＡＲＣ）は１２日までに、１８ ６９年に福島県からの移民団が移住した北米最初の日本人入植地「若松コロニー」（同州ゴールドヒル）の跡地を、保存のため買い取ったことを明らかにした。
ＡＲＣは、入植者は米国の農業や技術などの進歩に貢献したと指摘。「若松コロニーの物語は（北米大陸初の英国人の永続的な入植地）ジェームズタウンや（英国のピルグリム・ファーザーズを乗せた）メイフラワー号（をめぐる歴史）と同じぐらい感動的だ」と強調した。跡地は、将来的に公園や博物館にする計画という。
入植者は戊辰戦争（６８～６９年）で敗れた会津藩の出身者らで、コロニーでは養蚕業や農業が行われたが、数年で崩壊した。（共同）
----------
アメリカ歴史協会「http://www.sha.org/news/current_research/USA-PW.cfm」よりコピペ・・・【Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony (submitted by Dr. Rebecca Allen): In 1869, the German merchant and gun supplier John Henry Schnell left Japan with a group of Japanese citizens who were facing persecution for political alliances made during Japan's Boshin War. The group arrived in San Francisco in late May. From there Schnell, his Japanese wife, Jou, their young daughter, and six other Japanese colonists traveled to Gold Hill, El Dorado County, with the intention of establishing a farming colony. They had brought with them a variety of agricultural products from Japan, including 50,000 mulberry seedlings for use in the sericulture industry. More Japanese colonists soon joined them. In 1870, 22 of the 55 Japanese residing in the U.S. lived in the colony in Gold Hill; that number climbed to as high as 35 before the farm failed due to water rights and other issues. Although short-lived, lasting only from 1869 to 1871, the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony was the first permanent settlement of Japanese citizens in the continental U.S. and was a precursor to Japanese settlement in the nation. The colony lands were purchased by the Veerkamp family in 18731873, and they have acted as keeper of the Wakamatsu history. The site was established as a California Historic Landmark in 1969. The American River Conservancy, Florin and Placer chapters of the Japanese American Citizens League, the Fukushima Kenjin Kai, and the Bureau of Land Management have formed a working partnership that seeks to acquire these historic lands. The ARC has also been a recipient of funding from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment for the restoration of the 1860s residence originally occupied by the colonists.
American River Conservancy project leader Alan Ehrgott hired Past Forward, Inc. to write the National Register nomination for this property to bring recognition to this important landmark and assist in the search for project funding for the restoration of the structures and establishment of an interpretive center. Dr. Rebecca Allen of Past Forward, Inc. and Kimberly Wooten of the California Department of Transportation coauthored the nomination in early 2009; the property was found eligible for the National Register in October 2009, at the local and state level under Criterion A for significant contributions to the history of Japanese ethnic heritage, exploration, and settlement. In addition, the site received national-level eligibility in March 2010. The offices of Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Tom McClintock have written letters encouraging the assignment of national value to this property.
The National Register nomination also recognized the potential for later eligibility under Criterion D. In addition to being a source of information about the Japanese colonists, the Wakamatsu lands may potentially yield archaeological and historical information on a nearby ethnographic site, 19th-century mining activities, and the homestead of the pioneering Veerkamp family, who purchased the land in 1871.
--------
大きな地図で見る