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In 1950, after slices of the Drum Mountains meteorite had been sent to institutions around the world, Henderson had slices sent to each of the two men—to Nishimoto in Stockton and to Ujihara at an unspecified address; and the tale of two men who found themselves displaced into an alien landscape—where they found a similarly displaced object from far away—came to a close.
Nishimoto’s granddaughter, Lisa Kunze recalls: “The story of my grandfather’s meteorite discovery was part of our family lore ever since I can remember. My dad and his siblings always talked about it with pride. …My grandfather returned to the Stockton area with his family after the war. He ended up maintaining his hobby of rock hounding until the end of his life, becoming involved with the rock, mineral, and lapidary group in his area, going on rock hounding trips, making jewelry from his finds, and amassing a wonderful collection.
He had six children (five boys and one girl), and my dad was the youngest. My dad adopted the rock hounding hobby himself in later adulthood and retirement. I ended up knowing more than the average person about rocks and minerals because my grandfather and father would tell me about rocks. He is the reason I can identify agate, amethyst, fluorite, and other types of rocks.
My grandfather loved and was proud of his rock collection, and often gave rocks he had polished, jewelry, crafts he had made like furniture and clocks, and interesting rock specimens to his children and grandchildren. When we visited him in Stockton for big family gatherings for New Year’s or Thanksgiving, the grandchildren all loved looking at his collection. It was kind of like a museum. I think it’s amazing that he found this lifelong hobby because of his incarceration. I’m glad he found something that brought him joy during that time.”
1 Photocopy of an article by Frank Beckwith, “Topaz Internees Find Valuable Meteorite,” published in the Millard County Chronicle sometime between late September-November, 1944. The photocopy was provided by Yoshio Nishimoto’s granddaughter, Lisa Kunze.
2 “9th Largest Meteorite Found in U.S. being Analyzed Here,” Times-Herald, Washington, D.C. December 22, 1944.
3 “Meteorite Found Near Topaz, Specimen Sent to Washington.” Topaz Times, October 11, 1944.
4 David, Jim. “Glad You Asked: What is Utah’s Largest Meteorite?” Survey Notes, May 2022. Utah Geological Society. https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/glad-you-asked/glad-you-asked-what-is-utahs-largest-meteorite/. Accessed 3/21/2026.
About the contributors:
Lisa Nishimoto Kunze‘s parents were both incarcerated in Topaz, Utah, during World War II, along with many aunts and uncles, and some of her grandparents. Yoshio Nishimoto was her grandfather.
Ruth Sasaki was born and raised in San Francisco after the War. The Takahashis, her mother’s family, were incarcerated in Tanforan and Topaz. A graduate of UC Berkeley (BA) and SF State (MA), she has lived in England and Japan. Her short story “The Loom” won the American Japanese National Literary Award, and her collection, The Loom and Other Stories, was published in 1991 by Graywolf Press. She shares her more recent writing via her website: www.rasasaki.com. Ruth has volunteered as the editor and curator of the Topaz Stories Project since 2018.
© 2026, Ruth Sasaki and Lisa Kunze. All rights reserved.