The yuma Territorial Prison is a historical figure in Yuma. It was a place where you probably didn’t want to go at the time. It was where the baddest criminals had to be put in. It was in the sunniest city in the state. It was far in the desert. It was next to the colorado river. Also close to the Gila river. As well on a hillock. This paper has been researched into the description on the prison, why was it built in Yuma, What type of people were thrown into the prison, the historical significance, even the way the prisoners lived in there, and finally the comparison to the more famous prison; the Alcatraz prison.

The prison was built in 1875 by the first seven inmates. The prison was authorized from the legislature in 1875. It was a project budgeted for $25,000. It was also built their to boost the local economy. Yuma got a huge boom in economy because of the gold rush and moreover because of the prison. The first inmates were crammed into their cells they built and that is where it all started. In the end there were 3,069 inmates that had been to the prison. Also 29 women had been there at the prison. It was going to be built in phoenix at first but representatives from Yuma changed it. Their names were Jose Maria Redondo and R.B Kelly. …show more content…
Many people from all over that were put in there. People were from China, Russia, Mexico, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Germany, and England. The crimes was obviously the reason they put them in the prison in the first place. Reasons were from Grand larceny to Murder. Also even polygamy which is when a man has multiple wives. The prisoners age ranged from 14-88. A famous prisoner was Pearl Hart. She was a thief; she made a stagecoach robbery. which was surprising because of her gender. The last inmate that was put in the prison was C.J Jackson he was put in there for Adultery. None of the prisoners were killed at the prison. All the execution happened over the County