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The Positive And Negative Effects Of The Yuma Territorial Prison

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The Yuma Territorial Prison was constructed in 1875 and was officially opened on July 1, 1876 with a total of 7 prisoners. It was open for 33 years. The prison initially opened with 7 prisoners in custody. The prison was a large part of the development of Yuma and how its name is commonly recognized. The prison has been a famous historical site known for its filming of old western movies. It is also rumored that it is haunted and has been on many paranormal television shows.Although, it is most known as the most famous landmark in Yuma.
The Yuma territorial prison caused many economical rises and downfalls. One negative effect of the Yuma Territorial prison was that they would pump raw sewage into the Colorado River. All of the shower, bathroom …show more content…

The prison had a library so the prisoners could learn how to read and write considering the majority of the prisoners could not speak English very fluently. The library consisted of over 2,000 books which was the most in the entire territory. Other prisoners would help the non fluent English speaking ones with their studies. There were many people who were from different ethnic backgrounds that would teach different languages such as German, French, Spanish and so on. There was a large prison yard where the prisoners would get some fresh air and get their energy out for the day with some exercise. The guards would have guard towers mounted at the top of the prison walls so that they could watch for any mischief or kerfuffles. There was an instance where one of the guards dropped their gun off of the guard tower and one of the prisoners returned it without any question. This came to show that people can change for the better in this place. The prison was very confined. The outside wall was 18 feet tall, 8 feet thick and 5 feet thick at the top. The prison was known by the prisoners as “ The Hell Hole” because of its extreme heat, especially in the summer, rising into the 120 degree area. Luckily, the inmates had ventilation fans, so they would not …show more content…

In total, there were 112 inmates that died in the prison. Eight of the prisoners were shot trying to escape the premise. There were six deaths due to suicide in their cells. There were five work related deaths that occurred in the prison. Although rare, there were two deaths due to one prisoner killing another inmate. There was only one death due to an execution by Yuma County. This only accounts for 22 out of the 112 deaths that happened. Almost 50% of the other fatalities were from Tuberculosis and the other 33% died from natural causes. The main cause of death at the Yuma Territorial Prison was

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