Yuma Territorial Prison

If today's prisoners think they have it tough, they should have spent some time at the Yuma Territorial Prison when it was operational. The extremely small cells housing multiple inmates with only a bucket for sanitation must have been insufferable in the heat of summer...

Although the prisoners called it the "Hell Hole", ironically, the citizens of Yuma called it the "Country Club on the Colorado" as the prison had more modern amenities than most homes in town. Click on photos to enlarge.

Here's a photo of a typical cell block...

However, for those inmates that broke the rules, there were "dark cells" which allowed no light in at all and were pitch black. Now, if that was not bad enough, rumor has it that the guards would occasionally toss in a rattlesnake or scorpion. Yikes!

Lastly, the phrase "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" must have had this woman in mind...