Great Diamond Hunt begins today

The Great Yuma County Diamond Hunt starts today! The Yuma Sun is publishing one story per day for seven days, highlighting the historical significance of one of the locations that represents Yuma's culture. There is one glass diamond hidden at each location. For details on the hunt, see the breakout box with today's story.

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The Yuma Territorial Prison was built by those it would soon imprison, and despite being considered state of the art for its time, it was the last place any criminal wanted to end up.

Construction on the prison began on April 28, 1876. Seven prisoners were forced to build the new cells, knowing without a doubt they would soon be locked inside. The project was completed on July 1, 1876.

Over the next 33 years, 3,069 prisoners, including 29 women, did hard time at the “hellhole,” as it became known. Their crimes ranged from murder to polygamy, with grand larceny, a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person, being the most common.

Due to the prison's prime location in such a remote and arid part of the territory, only 26 prisoners would ever escape. Eight others died trying.

For those who stuck it out, many served only portions of their sentences due to the ease with which paroles and pardons were obtained.

Others would never again know freedom and took their last breaths while in custody. Of the 3,069 prisoners, 111 died while serving their sentences, most from tuberculosis, which was common throughout the territory. Others were murdered by cellmates, crushed by falling rocks, bitten by rattlesnakes or drowned in the Gila River.

Of the dead, 104 were buried on Prison Hill, where their bones still rest today. The others were shipped home to their relatives and buried elsewhere.

Tales have been told over the past century about nefarious guards who liked to have fun by dropping snakes and scorpions on victims in the dark cells, but no evidence of such dastardly deeds has ever surfaced.

In addition, one of the earliest electrical generators in Arizona Territory was installed at the prison. It supplied the town of Yuma power after 7 p.m. in exchange for water.

By 1907, the prison was severely overcrowded, and there was no more room for expansion. A new facility was constructed in Florence, and the last convict left Yuma on Sept. 15, 1909.

The empty prison soon became occupied by students from Yuma Union High School. It was used in that capacity until 1914 and led Yuma High to adopt the Criminal as their mascot in 1917. YHS is the only school in the nation with such a mascot.

In the 1920s, the vacant cells were used by hobos who were traveling the country on freight trains. During the Great Depression, many homeless families found shelter within the prison walls.

Much of the prison complex was later destroyed by townspeople who stripped the building materials for use elsewhere in town. Only the cells, main gate and a guard tower remain today.

The Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area now operates the facility as a historic park. It is located at 1 North Prison Hill Road near the Colorado River and downtown Yuma. For more information, call 783-4771.