A Busy Day Exploring

This morning we went in search of the infamous Yuma Territorial Prison. This prison was built in 1876 and was used until 1909. During that time there were a total of 3,069 prisoners including 39 women. Their crimes ranged from murder to polygamy, with grand larceny being the most common. The prison cells were actually steel cages with bars 10 inches wide that were then covered with adobe. Each cell had six beds, two sets of three bunks which were very narrow. If an inmate tried to escape he was chained to an anchor in the center of the cell, along with the other five inmates - doubt that very many of them tried twice. If the leg chain didn't convince them not to, the other five inmates would! There was one other form of punishment - the dark cell. This was for inmates who broke prison regulations. This was a five foot cell in a very dark cave like room. They said at one time it actually held 14 prisoners at one time. How awful - no potty and only one meal a day of bread and water. But in spite of this, the prison was humanely administered and a model institution for its time. The funniest fact is that the prison actually had telephone service and electricity before the town of Yuma did. You know the residents thought that the prisoners were really livin high - does it sound familiar - I've heard the same about prisoners today.

A few pictures from the prison....

The "paddy wagon" & the ole cell block



Entrance to the dark cell & one set of bunks in a cell



Several movies were made here such as....






From the prison we went to Paradise Casino, got our $15.00 free money and played the slots for a little while. I was not impressed with this casino - it was rather small and crowded. The neat thing about it is that there are actually two buildings right beside each other. One is in Arizona and the other is in California - yep - the state line runs right between them. Dean came home with $9.00 of the original $15 - I came home with none, but didn't lose any of my money.

For lunch we stopped at the Magic Greek Chef - Dean and I split a great club sandwich and had a cup of white bean soup that was soooo good. This is the 3rd time that we've ate there, the food is so good. I'm sure we will be back again before we leave the area.

After lunch we drove over to California to the Imperial Dunes. This was so freaky - out of no where - sand dunes. Big ones at that! We didn't see any four wheelers running the dunes, but did see some kids climb to the top of one and then run down - if only I was a lot younger - sure looked like fun. I thought about my granddaughter, Morgan, when I saw them. She would love it!

As we approached the dunes......

Up close........

Well folks, that's all for now. Tomorrow we are driving over to Quartzsite to visit with some of the '05 Graduating Class members and other friends. Check back to see what we find on our way.