Editing Hanford Site (section)

===Land acquisition===
[[File:Pic hanford highschool.jpg|thumb|right|[[Hanford High School]] before residents were displaced by the creation of the Hanford Site]]
[[File:Hanford High School.jpg|thumb|right|Hanford High School after abandonment]]
The [[Secretary of War]], [[Henry L. Stimson]], authorized the acquisition of the land on February 8, 1943.{{sfn|Groves|1983|pp=74–75}}{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947d|p=4.1}} A Manhattan District project office opened in [[Prosser, Washington]], on February 22, and the Washington Title Insurance Company opened an office there to furnish [[Title (property)|title]] certificates. Federal Judge [[Lewis B. Schwellenbach]] issued an order of possession under the [[Second War Powers Act]] the following day, and the first tract was acquired on March 10.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947d|p=4.1}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Second War Powers Act 56 Stat. 176 (1942) |publisher=US Government |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2009-title50/USCODE-2009-title50-app-secondwar/summary |access-date=October 10, 2022}}</ref> Some 4,218 tracts totaling {{convert | 428,203.95 | acre }} were to be acquired,{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947d|pp=3.1–3.3}} making it one of the largest land acquisition projects in American history.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947d|pp=4.1–4.2}}

Most of the land (some 88 percent) was sagebrush, where eighteen to twenty thousand sheep grazed. About eleven percent was farmland, although not all was under cultivation. Farmers felt that they should be compensated for the value of the crops they had planted as well as for the land itself.{{sfn|Jones|1985|pp=331–334}} Because construction plans had not yet been drawn up, and work on the site could not immediately commence, Groves decided to postpone the taking of the physical possession of properties under cultivation to allow farmers to harvest the crops they had already planted. This reduced the hardship on the farmers, and avoided the wasting of food at a time when the nation was facing food shortages and the federal government was urging citizens to plant [[victory garden]]s.{{sfn|Groves|1983|pp=76–77}}{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947d||pp=4.12–4.13, 4.20–4.21 }} The [[United States Department of War|War Department]] arranged with [[Federal Prison Industries]] for crops to be harvested by prisoners from the [[McNeil Island Penitentiary]].{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947d||pp=4.25–4.26 }}{{sfn|Jones|1985|p=334}}

The harvest in the spring and summer of 1943 was exceptionally good, and high crop prices due to the war greatly increased land values. Litigation was needed to resolve disputes over the compensation due to the sellers.{{sfn|Groves|1983|pp=76–77}}{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947d|pp=4.12–4.13, 4.20–4.21 }} Discontent over the acquisition was apparent in letters sent from Hanford Site residents to the War and [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]]s, and the [[Truman Committee]] began making inquiries. Stimson met with chairman of the committee, Senator [[Harry S. Truman]], who agreed to remove the Hanford Site from the committee's investigations on the grounds of national security. Trial juries were sympathetic to the claims of the landowners and the payments awarded were well in excess of the government appraisals.{{sfn|Jones|1985|pp=335–338}} When the Manhattan Project ended on December 31, 1946, there were still 237 tracts remaining to be settled.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947d|p=5.3 }}

About 1,500 residents of Hanford, White Bluffs, and nearby settlements were relocated, as well as the Wanapum people, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the [[Yakima Nation]], the Confederated Tribes of the [[Umatilla Indian Reservation]], and the Nez Perce Tribe.<ref>{{cite web |last=Department of Energy: Hanford |title=Department of Energy's Tribal Program: The DOE Tribal Program at Hanford |url=http://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/inp |publisher=DOE Hanford |access-date=April 20, 2014}}</ref>{{sfn|Brown|2013|pp=33–36}}

Native Americans were accustomed to fishing in the Columbia River near White Bluffs for two or three weeks in October. The fish they caught were dried and provided food for the winter. The Natives rejected offers of an annual cash payment, and a deal was struck allowing the chief and his two assistants to issue passes to fish at the site. This authority was later revoked for security reasons. Matthias gave assurances that Native American graves would be treated with respect, but it would be fifteen years before the Wanapum people were allowed access to mark the cemeteries. In 1997, the elders were permitted to bring children and young adults onto the site once a year to learn about their sacred sites.{{sfn|Marceau|Harvey|Stapp|Cannon|2002|pp=1.12–1.13}}