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Yuma Territorial Prison

Prison opened in 1876 in Yuma, Arizona Territory.[1]

Commissioned by Governor Anson P. K. Safford, the prison admitted its first inmates on July 1, 1876.[1]

The Long Hunt: On July 13, 1876, Jedd Ferris was transferred from the Pima County jail in Tucson to serve the remainder of his life sentence in Yuma Territorial Prison. On September 28, a year later,[2] Bret Maverick visited Ferris in prison to tell him of Lefty Dolan's dying confession that it was he that had shot and killed a bank teller during a robbery in Dry Springs in 1872 and that Ferris was innocent. Bret had been to visit the governor and others on Ferris' behalf, but his unsubstantiated claim carried little weight with the authorities. In December of that year, Bret tracked down the surviving three men that aided Dolan in the bank robbery. Ben Maxwell, one of the four, signed a confession that was witnessed by the sheriff of Dry Springs, and Ferris was absolved of all charges and released from prison[3] in February of 1878.[2]

Despite its notorious reputation, Yuma Territorial Prison was considered very humane in its treatment of its prisoners and reputed to be a model prison in the American West. it was replaced on September 15, 1909 by the Arizona State Prison in Florence, Arizona. Today, the facility is operated as an historical museum by Arizona State Parks.[1].