The Yuma Territorial Prison is a former prison located in Yuma, Arizona, United States, that opened on July 1, 1876, and shut down on September 15, 1909. It is one of the Yuma Crossing and Associated Sites on the National Register of Historic Places in …

Jan 17, 2018 · Considered one of the hottest spots in Arizona, the desert community of Yuma was the perfect place for the building of the state’s first prison, back in the 1800s.

In the mid-1880's, twelve prominent, Mormon leaders were convicted under this latest statute and nine were imprisoned at the Yuma Territorial Prison. The first three convicted individuals were sent to the Detroit House of Corrections in Michigan.

In 1850, a military post was established at Yuma, and when rich placer gold strikes on the Colorado River precipitated a gold rush in 1858, Yuma experienced a boom. In 1871 Yuma incorporated and became the county seat of Yuma County. The Territorial Prison was authorized by the Legislature in 1875 and $25,000 was budgeted for the project.

In 1850, a military post was established at Yuma, and when rich placer gold strikes on the Colorado River precipitated a gold rush in 1858, Yuma experienced a boom. In 1871 Yuma incorporated and became the county seat of Yuma County.

Known for its brutal heat and relentless isolation, this prison held notorious names like Buckskin Frank Leslie, Burt Alvord, and Pearl Hart from the late 1800s into the early 1900s.

Jun 14, 2010 · During the early 1880's, when Wyatt Earp and his brothers worked in the Oriental Saloon, Leslie likewise worked there as a bartender and knew the Earps as well as Sheriff John H. Behan, who later became the Superintendent of the Yuma Territorial Prison from April 12, 1888 to …

Mar 26, 2025 · The collection documents the operation of the Territorial Prison of Yuma from 1875 to 1903. Included are Arizona Territorial Prison reports, newspaper articles referring to the prison and people associated with the prison, official reports of the Board of Territorial Prison Commissioners and the Office of the Board of Territorial Commissioners.

The prison was the place where the Wild Wild West’s most wanted to build the prison they were getting booked into for a variety of crimes like robbing a stagecoach to polygamy. Yuma Territorial Prison was authorized by Territorial Legislature in 1875 and is Arizona’s third state historic park.

At Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park walk through the actual strap iron cells and solitary chamber of Arizona Territory’s first prison, and see the areas where prisoners spent their lives in the desert.