CHRONICLE Orial Prison's Ul Past
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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 Your lottery dollars at work. Heritage Fund parks.trails education, preservation Arizona ® State Parks Arizona State Parks Mission: "Managing and conserving Arizona's natural, cultural, and recreational resources for the benefit of the people both in our parks and through our partners." Arizona State Parks 1300 W. Washington Phoenix, Arizona 85007 Tel & TTY: (602) 542-4174 800-285-3703 from (520) area code Fax: (602) 542-4180 www.pr.state.az. us 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.