A Very Brief History Of The Yuma Territorial Prison

The Yuma Territorial Prison was significant because it was a prison that eventually became a major historical landmark in Yuma, Arizona.The Yuma Territorial Prison was the ultimate location because of the work done by Jose Maria Redondo and R.B Kelly, they saw the potential the prison had to help the economy so that was why it was chosen over Phoenix, Arizona. Ever since the prison was first established the population of Yuma Arizona increased.It was the prisoners who had actually help construct the Yuma Territorial Prison.The prisoners would gather the building material from a quarry and from the river bottom. The prison was fairly unique when compared to the other prisons at the time because of the its high prison standards. During the prisons

During the Great Depression, the prison would harbor homeless people during the great depression.When Yuma was flooded, the local residents used materials from the prison to help rebuild the buildings. The taking of building material to aid Yuma, led to the downfall of the prison. Yuma Union High School used the prison for four years because the high schools building burned down. The Prison was used by the county hospital from 1914 to 1923. During the second world war the Yuma Territorial Prison was being used by the Civil Defense because the Main guard tower was useful for an observation tower. The prison was played a role in pop culture because of how significant it was aspects of the prison were mentioned in films and novels. The Film Badlanders was filmed inside of the Yuma Territorial prison and the Novel Forty Lashes Less One by Elmore Leonard setting was based in the Yuma Territorial Prison. The Yuma Territorial Prison was even used to for filming musical videos. Even after the prison ceased operation there were new and useful ways of using the prison other than harboring

One well known punishment the Yuma Territorial Prison had to offer was the Dark Cell. The Dark Cell was a small room that contained a cage the prisoners would be locked up in. Social contact with the other prisoners was strictly prohibited for someone who was sent to the Dark Cell. A prisoner who was sent to the Dark Cell would only have to be stripped naked and given bread and water once a day.People who would be sent to the dark cell were sent there for opium possession, refusing to work, and stealing. Sometimes the people would have the experience of being bitten by a snake or stung by a scorpion while in the Dark Cell. One punishment prisoners would receive if they attempted to escape was having a ball chained to their leg to disincentivize escaping the prison. Another common type of punishment in the prison was solitary confinement. A prisoner could be sent to solitary confinement for a wide variety of infractions such as fighting or bad language. solitary confinement was made up of adobe bricks and had a metal