{"id":31515,"date":"2025-11-26T00:01:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T08:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=31515"},"modified":"2025-11-16T07:49:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T15:49:30","slug":"yuma-territorial-prison-state-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/11\/26\/yuma-territorial-prison-state-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Yuma Territorial Prison State Park"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

There were four territorial prisons in the early western United States:\u00a0 Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Yuma.\u00a0 I’ve been to two of them.\u00a0 Sue and I visited the Old Idaho State Penitentiary<\/a> last year (it was awesome), and most recently, the Yuma Territorial Prison tucked away in the southwestern corner of Arizona.\u00a0 Years ago, I’d been to the Yuma Territorial Prison on a motorcycle ride with good buddy Dick Scott.\u00a0 It was way more primitive then; it wasn’t much more than a few remains of the original prison with not much identified.\u00a0 That’s not the case today.<\/p>\n

After catching up with John at dinner over fish tacos the night before, we had a nice breakfast the next day at the Yuma Denny’s (don’t laugh, it’s my favorite place for breakfast when I’m on the road).\u00a0 After that, it was on to the Yuma prison.<\/p>\n

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The Tower overlooking the Yuma Prison.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On this trip, Sue and I were on our way home after visiting the Buddy Stubbs Motorcycle Museum<\/a> in Phoenix (it was awesome) and we decided to divert down to Yuma to visit with my motorcycle riding and hunting buddy, Baja John.\u00a0 It was a good visit.<\/p>\n

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Yuma often sees temperatures over 110 degrees, and sometimes 120 degrees, during the summer months. It must have been brutal being incarcerated there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Bleak. Desolate. Dehumanizing. I see nothing wrong here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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If you were an inmate, you’d be home now…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Six to a cell. Impressive.\u00a0 High density housing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Yuma Prison apparently had some interesting houseguests.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As soon as you enter the Yuma Territorial Prison State Park, there’s a very nice museum.\u00a0 One of the displays that immediately caught my eye was a Gatling Gun.<\/p>\n

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A Gatling in the Yuma Prison museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The obligatory Gatling pose.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I like Gatling guns. You should, too, and as I always say, don’t way for the movie.\u00a0 \u00a0Buy the book<\/a>…<\/p>\n

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As mentioned above, Yuma is located in the southwestern corner of Arizona directly across the Colorado River from California.\u00a0 It was an interesting and vital stop for many ’49ers who entered California seeking gold.\u00a0 There are scenic overlooks that allow a clear Colorado River view.<\/p>\n

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That’s the Colorado River, and just across it lies California, the home of high gas prices and left-wing lunacy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A railroad bridge across Colorado.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We had a good time at the Yuma Prison State Park.\u00a0 John is still there, hoping to get out soon based on good behavior.\u00a0 We’ll see.<\/p>\n

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Baja John and friends.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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