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... In one form or another the incarceration of those who deny the rules of society has resulted in a constant dilemma. So it was in the early days of what would eventually become the state of Utah. ... "
With the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, the area currently known as Utah was transferred to the authority of the United States. ... In the early years, few crimes apparently were committed within the Utah settlement. ...
Still, as the population increased, the need for a more formalized system to handle civil and criminal affairs was deemed a necessity for the growing State of Deseret. ... The first official jail in the Utah Territory was at Fort Utah, it was ready for occupation in early 1851.
A bill providing for the Territorial Government of Utah was passed on September 9, 1850 but it was not until September of 1851 that the first legislature of the Territory of Utah convened. ... The early erection of a substantial prison, it is believed, would not only tend to prevent crime, but would also reform the offenders and put them in the way of self-support. ... One innovation of this new code was a provision that ". ... "
In October 1853, the Deseret News published a request for suggestions for a site and donations to build for the Utah State Penitentiary. A site was finally decided upon, located at Twenty-first south and Fifteenth east, a ten acre plot was to be the new home to the first territorial prison of Utah. ...
Completed and ready to receive prisoners in 1855, the penitentiary or "THE MUD PRISON" as it was often referred to opened its gates. ... large rooms with triple bunks, one built atop the other and designed for anything but comfort"
An early traveler to Utah visited the penitentiary and related the dwelling as ". ... All of this took its toll on the prison population which fled the facility in large numbers. Finally in 1863 the Territory Treasury voted to provide $5,000 to repair the degrading prison, hardly enough to even begin to rebuild the dilapidated prison.
By the following year a total of seventy-five prisoners had been committed to the prison. ...
This practice lead to many a tale, one of the most colorful and imaginative being perpetrated by two very creative convicts by the names Angelos and Dives. ... " Before sun-up they returned to the prison to be snugly secure in their bunks at morning check. ... A fancy watch was seen as one of them was admiring it and a subsequent shake down of their cell led to the end of that game.
In response to a flood of escapes in 1864, the Legislature pleaded with congress for more funds to repair the decaying prison. Congress held a deaf ear to these pleas and the prison continued its decline. ... The talk continued and came to no real solution and Utahs present prison continued to fall into deeper and deeper disrepair and convicts continued to escape at will. This dilemma became an ongoing feud between "Mormon Utah" and the United States Government. ... " The current prison administration was not happy and stalled for time to fulfill this new request. ... Marshal Patrick arrived with Governor Woods of Utah at the prison and demanded possession of it on July 28th of that year. ...
Six days later on August 3rd Patrick returned to take over control of the prison. Fully expecting trouble he was prepared, but to his surprise Rockwell quickly and easily turned over control of the prison to him. ... From then on territorial prisoners were sent to the territorial prison and the cost of custody, at the fee of $1. ... Marshal (Nelson) requested that Rockwood "loan" miscellaneous prison property. ... five iron cells, one block do. ... Literally hundreds of Mormons filled the old mud prison as the pursuit of these "co-habs" heightened.
Much of the documentation of these early days of Utah penology is gleaned from the journals of these "co-habs". One such entry, by Abraham A. Kimball on November 4, 1888 describes the beginning of a routine day within the walls of the Mud Prison: "When the bell was wrung for breakfast we all marched in single file to the dining room. ... Also one pint of good coffee. ... Our eating utensils consisted of one table spoon. ... "
A requirement of the prison at the time was that all prisoners ". ... shave their heads and beards and to dress in prison stripes. ... However, to cross what was know as a "dead line", an area "in front of the heavy iron and wooden gate" was a quick invitation for a bullet from one of the guards patrolling the top of the adobe wall. ... Dyer in July of 1886 described the condition of the prison. "The old prison is built altogether with what is called in this country adobes which in nothing but mud pressed into large bricks, then sun dried. ... The cells are made of pine lumber spiked one upon the other, and we are in continual dread of fire. ... In short, this in the poorest excuse for a prison I ever saw and it is very necessary that something should be done. ...
Less than five years later the Territory of Utah would be admitted to the Union and its problems would then become the problems of the United States. Utah also resumed control over the penitentiary. The Utah State legislature also created a Board of Corrections which not only was empowered to grant parole but also provided management of the prison as well.
By 1905, the Mud Prison, now known as Sugarhouse was home to almost 200 inmates. ... Some who were against this practice argued that prison labor was too expensive, later members of the Socialist Party protested the use of convicts on the grounds that it ". ... The prison was again showing signs of decay and he designated inmates to various maintenance tasks around the prison. One such task employed inmates to replace the candles and oil lamps with a new electrical system. ... the population in the prison continued to rise each year" and warned of ". ... Davis took over the reigns of the Utah penitentiary later that same year. ... meager accommodations and restricted space forced prison officials to place young, first offenders in close proximity to hardened criminals" and therefore encouraged a system that created "social and moral ruin where the result sought is constructive.
Approximate Word count = 5265
Approximate Pages = 21.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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