the dark cell

flying into yuma
I usually fly from California to Yuma, and get there in 4 hours, door-to-door. Unfortunately there are no direct flights form my home town, so I stop over in Phoenix via US Airways - at the Sky Harbor airport. I know it well. I head straight to Starbucks at Gate B7...and get a coffee and bagel. There is always turbulence landing in both Phoenix and Yuma. Something about warm air rising, but it is nothing to be afraid of; just expect a turbulent landing, especially during the hotter months.

dove season
At the end of August, Yuma is swarmed by dove hunters. Our property is booked for this special event six months earlier. If you want to get a room in town, tough luck...everyone is booked from about August 31st to September 3rd or so. Dove season opens September 1st, so scope it out the night before, then hunt until noon. Come back to home base at the Cabana, clean and cook your bird! (I am not a hunter, but it's a popular annual sporting event).

yuma territorial prison
I have three words for you: The Dark Cell.

I visited the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park in the morning. I was hoping to get there before the crowds and the heat. I was the only one there, and the heat was pretty evident. It definitely slowed me down. The weather right now is about 90 with 40% humidity, so it feels like 100 or so. I've been here in July and August when the temperature has climbed to 122, so I feel pretty lucky these last two visits. But I must say, I would not want to be in a 9' by 12' cell, shared with three other convicts during the summer in Yuma without A/C!

There was no really famous outlaw housed there, but the museum is still quite interesting. Most of the convicts were "infamous" outlaws and committed crimes like murder, manslaughter, burglary and grand larceny. Criminals were native Mexicans, Indians, cowboys, women and "the insane." A handful received the order of death, and were hanged publicly. The actual cells and walls were built from granite mined by the prisoners, right there on site, and from homemade adobe bricks. Iron was ferried in along the Colorado River, which abuts the prison.

Some prisoners smuggled in drugs. Clippings from the local newspaper indicated they used morphine, opium and marijuana. Marijuana was described as a "loco-weed" more powerful than opium. Several attempted escapes, and some prisoners died while serving their sentences....one of a snake bite! After learning that, I decided against the walk down the trail to the river when I saw the warning about dangerous insects and reptiles. Don't miss the cheesy photo op hidden in the corner of the museum building. You get to dress up like a prisoner, hold a number and shoot next to the original prison mirror with your own camera.

Touring the cells takes you back to prison life in the 1800s, but The Dark Cell is the highlight. It was used for the "incorrigible" prisoners, sort of as solitary confinement. I just walked right in, not even considering that it might creep me out and I was immediately struck by the energy of fear and the history of pain. I could almost hear the screams (seriously). I walked through the first threshold nonchalantly, and noticed the second threshold, which was very dark, and black, and it went back like a cave. I actually turned around and ran back out! I was glad no one else was there to see me make a fool of myself. I had hair standing up on end! I challenge you to walk all the way to the back of the cell...alone.

Until next time...