Out Arizona Way

[ezdays]

OK, this one is a bit long, but it's one that was published back in 2010 and I couldn't seen doing any editing:

Yuma prison

Some years ago when we had our own manufacturing business, we have several opportunities to spend time in a few local jails and prisons. No, no, not that way, we were on the up and up; it was just part of our business. We manufactured custom control and monitor systems and some of them were installed locally and throughout the country in these types of institutions. Today’s prisons are a far cry from those of yesteryear, but one thing was common, not too many of the people that were confined there, actually wanted to be there. It usually takes extraordinary measures to keep things so that they stick around. I remember one time where we had to go back and do some service work on one of our systems. During the construction phase of the project, we had unlimited access to the control room where our equipment was being installed and we could come and go and work as we needed to. After completion, the building was handed over to the County and the jail became occupied by the staff and some rather reluctant prisoners. This time, things were a bit more secure; we only had controlled access to our system. Peggy and I stood waiting for the gate to open to the sally port. Once inside, we were confronted by another gate that would not open until the gate behind us closed securely. It is a bit creepy to know that your freedom is in the hands of the press of a button by a guard. Obviously, things had changed since we were there last. Once inside, we went about our business of working on the system, when suddenly there was a disturbed “guest” causing trouble in the cell area. We were now on “lockdown,” unable to leave until the prisoner was literally dragged from his cell, stark naked, and taken to a more secure area where he could not do anymore harm to himself or the facilities. After that incident, Peggy decided that this was her last field service trip to an occupied jail of any kind.

One prison here, where guests can now come and go as they please, is the Arizona Territorial Prison in Yuma. This prison opened in 1876 and housed several prisoners that had the dubious honor of building this structure themselves. As the prison population grew, so did the prison itself. Now, at this time, there was little between the prison and civilization but open desert and lots of cactus. Still, that didn’t deter some from trying to leave without getting permission first. Of the over 3,000 people, including 29 women, incarcerated there over time, 26 did manage to successfully escape. From reports of the day, it appeared that things were humanely run, but it was still hot and crowded and not the same as the prisons of today. Air conditioning was simply the breeze that would blow through the open iron-strap cell doors, while the plumbing facilities was a pot at one end of each cell. Punishment for breaking regulations was administered by placing offending guests in the “dark cell” which could be inhabited by as many people as it could contain. Escaping prisoners that were caught were shackled to a ball and chain. By 1909, overcrowding with no room to expand forced the prison to shut down.

For the next five years, the facilities were used as a high school, then as a haven for hobos until the depression where it housed many homeless families. As time went on, the walls and outbuildings were used as a source of building materials for the townsfolk. This, along with fires, railroad construction and the ravages of the hot Yuma summers, left only the main gate, guard tower and the cellblock areas intact. After years of neglect, what was left of the prison was restored and turned into a state park.

Today, it is possible to visit the park and the attached museum to get a feeling of what life was like back then, although with the encroaching town and nearby freeway, it’ll be difficult to sense the isolation. The site was used during the shooting of several western movies including, “The 3:10 to Yuma.” The prison sits on a hill overlooking the Colorado River, not far from the center of old downtown Yuma. If you wanted to visit the prison, I would suggest that you wait until sometime in July or August when the temperatures are pushing 120 so you can get the real feeling of the kind of life they endured.