CHRONICLE orial Prison's ul Past

o the History of the on State Historic Park This project was made possible by the Hertiage Funded - Interpretive Education Program of Arizona State Parks

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Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 1 Prison Hill Road Yuma, Arizona85364 (520) 783-4 771

This document available in alternative formats by contacting the ADA Coordinator. 602-542- 7152

[ ellvh . 11 ? f Yuma Territorial Prison s+d : ( COL l State Historic Park I ...,- Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the park staff of the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park who have been of tremendous assistance in the preparation of this guide.

This document was prepared under the authority of the 1999 Arizona State Parks Board

Sheri J. Graham, Chair Members Vernon Roudebush Walter D. Armer, Jr. Suzanne Pfister Joesph H. Holmwood Ruth Patterson Michael E. Anable, Acting State Land Commissioner Kenneth E. Travous, Executive Director ARIZONA STATE LIBRARY ARCHIVES & PUBLIC RECORDS OCT 0 2 2001 Written by: Marti Murphy, SR Interpretive Education

Re-print Editor: Mia LaBarbara, WR Interpretive Education

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 1 WHAT'S INSIDE ....

Overview of this Guide . Why was Yuma Settled at All? 4 Why was the Territorial Prison Located in Yuma? 5 The Territorial Prison 6 The First Day as a Prisoner 8 Day-to-Day Life in the Prison ...... 9 The Prisone 11 The Guards 14

Yuma Territorial Prison 2 State Historic Park About the Park ...

The Yuma Territorial Prison is one of 27 state parks in Arizona. It is located at # 1 Prison Hill Road and can be reached by exiting off ramp #1 on Interstate 8, turning east on Harold Giss Parkway, traveling about 1 I 8 mile and turning north on Prison Hill Road.

As a historic park, interpretation of the artifacts and ways of life of the people associated with the prison is one of our goals. However, there are times when it isn't possible to have a Park Ranger available for a tour, or the visitor prefers to "go it alone" at the park. On these occasions, this Park Guide can provide interesting and more detailed information and insight into the history of the Prison and the times that created it. Overview of the guide

This park guide will address not only the history of the prison itself, but also the day-to-day life of the prison and its relationship to, and effects on, the town of Yuma. How did the people of the area cope with the heat? Why was the prison built in Yuma, and for that matter, why was such a hot place settled in the first place? In this guide, we will address these questions and many more. By the end of the booklet, we hope you not only know more about the Yuma Territorial Prison itself, but also come away with a sense of what life was like "back then" for the adventuresome souls who dared to live in the "wild west! 11

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 3 Why was Yuma settled at all? " ... this was the hottest place in the world; so hot that in the summertime wings melt off mosquitoes, the Indians cover in mud, the Mexicans crawl into their little huts, and the Americans stand in the river half the day and keep drunk the rest of the time to avoid death by melting." -Arizona Sentinel, 1872. With temperatures averaging 100 to 105Q in the summer months, and rainfall less than 3 inches per year, why did Yuma ever become a settlement in the first place? Three important factors came together that led to the creation of the town. First, the area had already been used for hundreds or thousands of years by the Indian tribes who settled here because it was the narrowest place to cross the Colorado and the Gila Rivers. At that time, the Colorado was a large, deep, and potentially dangerous river. Today the Colorado River has dams on it and the bulk of the water is diverted and used for irrigation. The Yuma crossing was the only safe place south of the Grand Canyon to ford the river. This natural crossing was used from prehistoric times through the European explorers of the 1600's and 1700's. The Native American people also used the fertile flood plain along the river banks to grow crops. Second, gold was discovered in California in the mid 1800's. A United States Army outpost called Camp Calhoun had grown up in the area to protect boundary surveyors who were drawing the international border between Mexico and the United States. This military presence also provided protection from Indian attacks to the travelers heading to the gold fields. Two small towns; called Colorado City and Arizona City sprang up near the army encampment, which became Fort Yuma in 1850. Periodic flooding of the Colorado River often washed away the small towns along its banks. When the towns were rebuilt, they gradually coalesced into one town, called Yuma, by about 1873.

Third, the Colorado River was, at the time Yuma was settled, deep and wide enough to be navigable by steamships. These ships provided a way of bringing supplies, by way of the Gulf of California, to the fledgling town. The availability of goods from more "civilized" places contributed to the continued growth of the town of Yuma.

Yuma Terri to rial Prison 4 State Historic Park Steamship on the Colorado River near railroad crossing. Yuma, Arizona late 1800's. Why was the Territorial Prison located in Yuma?

From a modern-day perspective, the location of the Territorial Prison in Yuma seems ideal. The Gila River to the east, the fast-moving Colorado River to the north, the town of Yuma to the west, and the barren, harsh, desert to the south would certainly discourage escape.

The impending arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad would help assure supplies were available, and the presence of Fort Yuma might act as a deterrent as well. But, in actuality, the reason for the Territorial Prison being built in Yuma is much simpler.

It was a result of political maneuvering by Jose Maria Redondo and R.B. Kelly. These two Yuma County legislators thought that a prison in Yuma would be a real boost for the local economy. When the prison project was approved, the word "Phoenix" had been crossed out and "Yuma" written in as the location of the prison, courtesy of these two legislators!

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 5 The Territorial Prison

"The Country Club on the Colorado"

The prison was constructed based on plans developed as the result of a contest. Rather than pay a professional architect, a contest was held to create a plan for the prison. The winner of the contest received $150.00 and the construction began in 1875.

The majority of the construction labor was performed by prisoners using stone that was quarried from the site and adobe taken from the river bottom. On July 1, 1876 the first seven prisoners were moved into the facility. Construction continued for the entire 33 years the prison was in operation.

Prison labor crew in line to march to work site

Yuma Territorial Prison 6 State Historic Park By modern standards, the Yuma Territorial Prison might be thought of as inhumane, but it was considered to be a model prison at the time that it was built. Indeed, the townspeople of Yuma called the prison "the Country Club on the Colorado." The people felt, as some do in the present times, that the prisoners had it "too easy!"

In the case of the Territorial Prison with its running water pumped from the Colorado River, flush toilets, sewer system, electricity, and forced air ventilation system, it's easy to see why they may have felt this way! All of this was in place by 1893, quite a while before the rest of the town had these amenities! Ventilation fans and the adobe and rock construction of the cells probably made the prison more pleasant in the summer months than the rest of the town.

The town benefited from the prison because they were able to purchase electricity after 9 p.m. every night. Having electricity, in 1893, was a big advancement for such a small town!

One of the negative effects the prison had on the town was the pumping of raw sewage from the prison into the Colorado River.

You may note that the prison is less than a mile upstream from the town of Yuma, and because of the unsanitary conditions in general, and the unclean drinking water in particular, outbreaks of Typhus, smallpox, and scarlet fever frequently occurred in Yuma. In spite of this, the town's climate was touted by the Arizona Sentinel as "superior to any spot on Earth for the cure of consumption, Bright's Disease of the kidneys, rheumatism, and neuralgia."

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 7 The prison the visitor sees today is only one portion of the complex as it existed when it was vacated in 1909. Much of the perimeter wall and some cells have been destroyed due to scavenging of materials and during construction of the railroad on the west side of the hill. The exterior wall was 18 feet tall, 8 feet thick at the base and 5 feet thick at the top, allowing a footpath on the top so guards could patrol the perimeter.

The prison could hold a total of 350 prisoners at a time. Over 3,000 prisoners, 29 of whom were women, served sentences at the prison during its 33 years of operation. The first day as a prisoner

Prisoners arrived in Yuma by steamship, or overland by way of stagecoach, prison wagon, or when it was completed, train.

The first day for a new prisoner at Yuma Territorial Prison would be a busy one. He would be assigned a number, have his vital statistics (height, weight, etc.) taken, his head shaved, and be photographed using the specially developed mirror that you see in the museum. This mirror had a place to sit and a cutout to put your shoulder into. In this way, the photographer could attain a full face view and a profile view in one photograph.

After a bath, the prisoner would be issued a striped uniform of either black or gray stripes paired with R.L. McDonald either white or yellow stripes, one Note in upper left corner of photo there is a hand holding the mirror extra pair of pants, a cap, 2 on the shoulder. handkerchiefs, 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of underwear, one pair of shoes, one toothpick, one toothbrush, 2 combs, 2 towels, 2 sheets, and 2 pillowcases. Prisoners were allowed to have tobacco and books, but they had to provide these items themselves.

Yuma Territorial Prison 8 State Historic Park The inmate would be escorted to his cell which he would share with 5 other men. In the cell, there were 2 rows of bunk beds, a chamber pot (for a restroom facility), and an iron ring cemented to the floor that the inmate would be chained to for punishment, if necessary.

The bunk beds were originally made of wood, but they were later torn out and iron beds were installed to alleviate a severe bed-bug infestation. The bugs would hide in cracks in the old wooden bunks by day and come out and bite the prisoners at night. The iron beds rid the prison of the problem. Prisoners were given a long cloth bag and told to stuff it with straw for a mattress. This stuffing would have to be changed periodically as the termites would eat it. Day-to-day life in the prison

One of the things that made the Yuma Territorial Prison unique for its time was that the prisoners could learn a trade while at the prison. Blacksmithing, shoe-making, electrical work and carpentry are a few examples of the trades learned by the prisoners. There was a school established on the prison ground for those who wished to learn to read and write. Music, Spanish and English were also taught for those interested in learning them.

Work, for the prisoners, was mandatory. The goal was to make the prison self-supporting while providing labor for the inmates. Prisoners made clothing and shoes for themselves, adobe bricks for the ongoing construction, and worked on the prison farm. Farming took place along the banks of the Colorado River and was never very successful because periodic flooding would cause the loss of entire crops.

Sallyport (front gate) of Territorial Prison. Note shovels leaning against wall ready for work crews.

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 9 Inmates with good prison records were called "trustees" and were allowed to work outside the prison walls on construction and farming under the watchful eye of the guards. There was never enough work to occupy all of the prisoners. To quote the Arizona Sentinel of June, 1896,

"One can go any day to the prison and see convicts singing and skylarking, joking, and all-in-all having a grand old time at the expense of the taxpayer. It is well known here that the prison on the hill is more a place of recreation and amusement than servitude."

When not working for the benefit of the prison (or recreating if one believes the newspaper account) inmates could work on craft items to sell at weekend bazaars held at the prison every two to three months. Many of the prisoners became skilled artisans. Beautiful silverwork, inlaid wood boxes, lace tatting, horsehair braiding, and onyx stonework was created. They were allowed to keep 2/3 of their earnings, most of which they spent on tobacco and food; the other 1/3 went to the Territory.

lace collar made by prisoner

Yuma Territorial Prison 10 State Historic Park Another popular pastime was visiting the prison library which was established in 1883. ·

The library consisted ofover 1500 books and almost 1400 magazines and newspapers. These were acquired through donations and fees collected from tours of the prison facility. The library was also used extensively by the townspeople who paid. a 25¢ user fee which went toward the purchase of new books.

The Prisoners Over 3,000 convicts spent time at the Territorial Prison during its 33 year history. They were a diverse group, ranging in age from 14 to 88 years, representing virtually every ethnic and religious background. The crimes they had committed were much the same as those common today with the exceptions of "selling liquor to the Indians, obstructing the railroad, and seduction."

Although none of the most notorious "wild west" outlaws were ever incarcerated at the prison; it didn't lack for fascinating characters. Interesting stories abound about the prisoners held here; some humorous, some bloody.

One of the more interesting inmates was R.L. McDonald, a Phoenix school superintendent who was charged with forgery, (see photo on page 8). The prison officials were so impressed with his credentials that he was given the task of bookkeeper for the inmates earnings. When Mr. McDonald had served his sentence and left the prison, $130.00 of the prisoners money went with him!

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 11 Edward Lopez was serving a sentence for grand larceny and bragged to his fell ow inmates of having killed 19 people in Mexico. He was extradited to Mexico to stand trial for the crimes. His body was later found just over the border with exactly 19 bullet holes in it.

Elena Esrada, one of two women to have spent time in the dark cell.Female convicts were incarcerated at the Territorial Prison beginning on November 11, 1878.

To quote the Arizona Sentinel from August 28, 1897, "Assistant SuperintendentAspinwall of the prison is the only ladies man on the hill. It is his duty to look after the wants of the female convicts of whom there are three, of more or less dangerous characters, who have heretofore been a source of much annoyment ~nd displeasure to the guards and management, owing to their scrapping proclivities. In some manner, however, the assistant superintendent, either by his kindness, good looks or winning ways, has won the confidence and good graces of the frail prisoners, and now they will not even speak to anyone else connected with the management of the institution."

Yuma Territorial Prison 12 State Historic Park The "frail prisoners," as the women were called, were considered, to be quite a bit of trouble. Initially there weren't cells for them and everyone had to be rearranged to accommodate them. Another problem was a lack of a uniform for the females to wear.

The first four women inmates were at the prison one at a time. The governor quickly pardoned them because they had no other women to talk to and he felt it was too much like solitary confinement.

Jeanie McClurry and Georgie Clifford, the fifth and sixth women prisoners were the first to have to share a cell. Georgie was a morphine and cocaine "fiend" (addict) according to reports and during the period of withdrawal, was probably not the best roommate one could hope for.

Later, two women prisoners, Elena Estrada and Rosie Duran were the only women to spend time in the dark cell as a result of their fighting between themselves.

Manuela Fimbres has the distinction of having been the only prisoner to give birth at the Territorial Prison. Manuela was pregnant at the time of her incarceration and gave birth to a boy she named Luis. Luis was allowed to live at the prison with his mother until the time of her release when he was two. Manuela was given a conditional pardon ... the condition being that she leave and never set foot in the Arizona Territory again.

Eventually a separate women's cell block was carved into the caliche hillside and many of the problems with the "frail prisoners" were alleviated. The women's cells were demolished in 1924 when the railroad built tracks on the western side of the prison.

Perhaps the most famous or infamous female prisoner held here was Pearl Hart, who had the distinction of being the only female stagecoach robber ever. Pearl and her companion, Joe Boot, were captured soon after holding up a stage between Winkelman and Globe, Arizona. Pearl, a petite young woman, flirted with the jurors and was found innocent of stagecoach robbery. The outraged judge dismissed the jurors, selected a new jury, and tried Pearl for stealing the stage driver's weapon. Pearl was found guilty and served 3 years of her 5 year sentence. Her companion Joe Boot got 30 years, but escaped after only 2 years and was never captured.

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 13 Pearl attempted to cash in on her fame by becoming an actress and replaying, on stage, her famous crime. Reports indicate she was a poor actress and she eventually disappeared from the public eye.

Pearl Hart, Joe Boot, Stagecoach Robber Pearl's accomplice The Guards The only qualification necessary to be a prison guard at the Territorial Prison, it seems, was to know someone. Most of the prison superintendents would hire only those that belonged to the political party in power at the time. Guard jobs were highly sought-after because of the excellent pay of $75.00 per month. (The average salary for workers in 1900 was about $41.00 per month).

One guard, Patrick Holland, was a particularly interesting fellow. When he took work crews outside the prison, he would fall asleep while "supervising" the prisoners. They would have to awaken him to be taken back into the prison each day.

Yuma Territorial Prison 14 State Historic Park Another time Holland was walking along the top of the perimeter wall on rounds and dropped his gun into the prison yard. He worked at the prison for only 2 months before being fired.

Guard George Solliday was showing off his pride and joy, the Lowell Battery gun, to an attractive young female visitor when he failed to notice it had live rounds in it. He fired the gun and accidentally shot a prisoner in the wrist. He didn't lose his job over this since he was the only guard who knew how to operate the gun!

The Escapes Of the 3069 prisoners held at the Territorial Prison there were 140 escape attempts, only 26 of which were successful. Most were by trustees working outside the prison walls, only 2 escaped from within the prison itself. Both of these escapes were from the New Yard. In one instance, the prisoner constructed a rope ladder and used it to slip over the wall. The guards on duty at the time were later fired for sleeping on the job.

One of the local Indian tribes, the Quechans, were particularly good trackers and were paid $50.00 a head to bring back the escapees dead or alive. They preferred to bring the prisoners back alive since they could then walk and wouldn't have to be carried, and they might escape again and be good for another $50.00.

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 15 The most tragic event of the prison happened during an attempted escape of seven Mexican prisoners. The prison superintendent, Thomas Gates, was about to leave the prison when he was detained by a prisoner named Lopez. While engrossed in conversation with Lopez, two other prisoners came up to the pair and attempted to take Gates hostage.

They were joined by 4 more prisoners who ordered the prison gate to be opened ~---;;;;;;;;~:--.... and marched out with the superintendent. While running to the superintendent's house in the hopes of procuring weapons, three of the escapees were brought down; being either shot or captured.

Three more were shot as they tried to harm Superintendent Gates. The final remaining escapee, Puebla, stabbed Gates in the back of the neck with a butcher knife and was using the superintendent as a shield to escape when he was shot by Barney Riggs, a fellow inmate who was serving a life sentence.

Riggs and another inmate helped administer first aid to Superintendent Gates. For his heroism in the riot, Barney Riggs was granted a pardon. Gates recovered but experienced chronic pain as a result of his wounds and was forced to resign because of it.

Ten years later, unable to deal with the pain, Gates shot himself. The escape attempt, known as the Gates Riot, was not the only unsuccessful escape attempt witnessed at the prison, but was certainly the bloodiest.

Yuma Territorial Prison 16 State Historic Park Crimes against society

Prisoners at the Yuma Territorial Prison served sentences for much the same crimes as those committed today. A commonly held belief today is that "back in the old days we really punished the criminals."

However, the Yuma Territorial prison was considered a "country club" by the local townspeople. To quote the Arizona Sentinel of July 13, 1895,

cc••• as to work, the inmates are treated more leniently and are as a consequence the best behaved of similar body of convicts in the United States."

Not exactly the "hellhole" we think of when we imagine the turn-of• the-century justice system.

Another fallacy is that people served long, arduous sentences for most crimes. Statistics show that at the turn of the century, someone convicted for life could expect to serve 4 to 7 years and the average length of stay was 2 to 5 years for most convicts.

Compare these figures to U.S. Department of Justice figures for 1992 which show that people convicted of homicide can expect to serve an average of almost 21 years and for all other crimes that would have been common in the 1900s; rape, burglary, assault, and fraud, the 1992 convict can expect to serve almost 12 years.

Many of the prisoners were pardoned as opposed to being paroled when they were near the end of their sentences. The reason for this was quite simply that the population of the Arizona Territory was small and they needed all of the citizens to be active voters. By being pardoned, the convict would regain his full rights, including the right to vote and to carry firearms.

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 17 Rule-breaking within the prison

Various punishments were used within the prison walls to ensure discipline was maintained. The most notorious of these punishments was the Dark Cell. Dug into the caliche hillside, the dark cell was a room about 15 feet by 15 feet and contained an iron cage in which the prisoners would be locked. During incarceration in the Dark Cell; the only light came from a small ventilation shaft in the ceiling and contact with other people was forbidden. Prisoners were given only bread and water once a day and they were stripped to their undergarments.

The Dark Cell was nicknamed the "snake den" possibly because a prisoner got bitten by a snake during his stay. Other unconfirmed stories are that the guards would drop snakes and scorpions down the ventilation shaft onto the prisoners. The most serious of all punishments, the dark cell was given for opium possession, refusing to work, and stealing.

Other, less stringent punishment options included chaining a prisoner to the ring set into the floor of the cell, or a ball and chain placed around the prisoner's ankle for such crimes as attempted escape.

Solitary confinement was the most common punishment and was used for everything from cooking in the yard, fighting and bad language. Originally the structure consisted of 5 cells with a walkway around them. The building was constructed of adobe bricks and covered by a metal roof. A large metal box contained the controls for the door. This box is currently on display in the museum.

Since this was one of the newer structures at the prison, the iron cells were moved to the new prison in Florence when it was built. When the Florence Prison was being renovated, 4 of the 5 cell doors were returned to Yuma prison rather than being discarded.

Interestingly, the list of punishments for infractions ofthe rules seems, by today's standards, to be somewhat contradictory. For instance, one could be confined to solitary for 2 days for not bathing, 3 days for littering the yard, or 3 to 10 days for gambling, but only 1 day for making a knife!

Yuma Territorial Prison 18 State Historic Park Medicine and the practice of healing Of all the deaths that occurred at the prison, more than 1/3 were from Tuberculosis, a common communicable disease of the time. Typhus, Scarlet Fever, and Smallpox occurred also, probably due, in part to unsanitary conditions present during that time.

Although the prison was clean and had a clean source of drinking water, the town did not. In August of 1890, the editor of the Arizona Sentinel wrote,

"The streets east of Main Street seem to have been selected as a dumping ground for all the filth and garbage of the city. The accumulation of decayed animal and vegetable matter which has heaped up, especially behind the convent building, is not only disgusting in its strength but poisonous in its effect."

When epidemics of diseases occurred, there was no lack of "cures" produced by the ignorant and the unscrupulous. Elixirs such as Samaritan Nervine were touted as a cure for syphilis, "epileptic fits of a stubborn character," vertigo, neuralgia, and sick headache.

It does not re- CONSUMPTION quire !<'11lll1n• ....,_,,,,~ .. ~~~~~:rc:~·:;~n1~: BRONCHITIS & r,,~~:!!d~~i~;~~·~ In DEAFNESS. Jrl'o.~oi/l 1c1t1ict. Bal111m1 and cxmll•l• .... !""'!""'__ ...,...,.oll or the m011 h••llni: ••d eoo1h111g j:';opertltt•rt eo eonihltttd with Circulars Etc • den•• b~:,hrnr;e•moke or Ytpor rl"~~;;'~t.'::i·. This 11 inltaltd-lftkeo ,:~~ ..._Sent __ Free_,,. right to the dleeue

Rad way's Ready Relief was advertised as curing every pain, cramp, spasm, sour stomach, heartburn, diarrhea, Typhoid, malaria, and colic within 20 minutes. Kearney's Fluid of Buchu was sold as the only known cure for Bright's Disease, bladder stones, prostate troubles, and incontinence, all for only a $1.00 a bottle!

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 19 The elixirs usually contained alcohol and sometimes opium which might have the effect of causing the patient to believe he was cured.

The inmates at the prison were afforded better medical care overall than that which was available to many of the local townspeople. There was a doctor on call and a hospital on the prison grounds.

The hospital was a second story on top of the west cell block. The descriptions of the prison hospital ref er several times to the "abundance of light and ventilation." It had wire screen on the windows to reduce the mosquito problem and was equipped with all the modern conveniences such as bathrooms and hot running water. It was destroyed by fire in 1924.

During its time of use, it provided some of the best medical care in the area. The prison hospital had such a fine reputation that inmates from other prisons were Dr. DeCorse, brought to Yuma Prison to be one of many fine doctors who practiced treated. at Terrthe Territorial Prison

The prison went through several doctors during its time of operation. Most of them had private practices in town and were paid on contract to the prison and sometimes to the Indian School as well. Judging by newspaper reports of the time, they all were well trained and well respected in the town. When medicine failed

During 33 years and over 3,000 prisoners, it was inevitable that some deaths would occur at the prison, and in fact, 111 prisoners died while incarcerated. Many of them are buried in the prison cemetery to the east of the prison.

Yuma Territorial Prison 20 State Historic Park Territorial Prison graveyard circa 1900

The causes of death ranged from disease, suicide, rattlesnake bite and attempted escape.

Contrary to popular belief, no one was ever hanged at the prison. One prisoner, Martin Ubillos, was hanged for murdering his prison cellmate, but the sentence was carried out by the county and the hanging was not held on the prison grounds.

The graveyard looks different today than in the 1890s and 1900s. There were markers at every gravesite as recently as the 1950s, but they were constructed of wood which has either deteriorated, been vandalized, or been collected as souvenirs. The end of the Territorial Prison and the aftermath Construction of new cells continued during the Prison's operation, but eventually space for new construction began to be a problem. With the river on 2 sides, and the town on the other, there was little space left to build. The town of Yuma would not lease any more land to the prison for expansion.

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 21 When a new prison was finished in Florence, Arizona on September 15, 1909, the last remaining convicts were transferred from Yuma to the Florence Prison.

After the inmates were moved, the Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma was abandoned. Although no longer a prison, nor an economic influence in Yuma, the Territorial Prison was to play an interesting and important role in the town for many years to come.

After a particularly bad flood in 1916, building materials were in great demand and the abandoned prison was a likely source. The townspeople came up to the prison and helped themselves to anything they needed for rebuilding the town, thus beginning a period of deterioration of the facility.

One of the most colorful events in the prison's history occurred after it was abandoned. The local school district needed facilities for a high school and in spite of parental protests, the high school was located in, among other prison facilities, the old prison hospital from 1910 to 1914. Because of the early association with the prison, all the Yuma High School athletic teams are called the Yuma Criminals or "Crims" to this day.

The County of Yuma leased the old superintendents house as a county hospital from 1914 to 1923. The house was torn down in 1924 to make way for the Southern Pacific Railroad.

Yuma High School Tennis Club During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the abandoned prison was used as shelter for the homeless and vagabonds of the time. Much of the graffiti inside the locked cells which can still be seen today, dates back to that time.

Yuma Territorial Prison 22 State Historic Park The old guards' quarters were used .as a VFW post from 1931 until it burned down in 1960.

During World War II, the Main Guard Tower was used by the Civil Defense as an observation tower, and later the prison became a favorite filming location for western movies. Famous actors such as John Wayne and Gene Autry made movies at the prison. Now, over 100 years after the first inmates moved into the prison, the site is also used as a location for filming music videos.

Old guards quarters were used as a veterans of Foreign Wars headquarters from 1931 until 1960.

In the early 1940s the abandoned prison was converted into a museum through the dedicated efforts of the townspeople of Yuma. In 1960 it was donated to Arizona State Parks and has been under our direction since that time.

The Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma has had a long and colorful history. It has existed for nearly 100 years, and during that time, it has played a role in the history of the developing western United States. From the days of housing frontier outlaws to sheltering depression era homeless to backdrop for music videos, the prison has captured our imaginations.

Did the legislators Jose Marfa Redondo and R.B. Kelly ever imagine the chain of events they would set off by merely crossing off "Phoenix" and writing ''Yuma" on that piece of legislation in 1874? Could the prisoners incarcerated in the Yuma Prison have known they were building something that would play such an fascinating role in the future of the west?

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 23 With all the events that have taken place the prison's past, we ourselves can only imagine what the future holds for the Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma.

Arizona State Parks is dedicated to preserving this important and colorful cultural and historical resource for the enjoyment of visitors today and in the future.

Yuma Territorial Prison 24 State Historic Park Bibliography

Love, Frank, et. al. A Prayer, A Poultice, A Pall: Life and Death in Yuma, Arizona, Arizona Territory (1854-1893). Yuma: self-published, 1994.

Love, Frank. From Brothel to Boomtown. ColoradoSprings: Little London Press, 1981.

Love, Frank. Hell's Outpost: A History of Old Fort Yuma. Yuma: Yuma Crossing Publications, 1992.

Trafzer, Cliff and Steve George. Prison Centennial 1876- 1976. Yuma: Rio Colorado Press, 1980.

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park 25 Notes

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park Notes

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park