Inside a Tough Prison
WALLA WALLA'S
RADICAL REFORMS
Man, I am always surprised at the things we find and where we find them!
Seems the Washington State Penitentiary was notorious in the 1960's and 70's. Located in Walla Walla, Washington it was just about 8 miles from Oregon. Maybe that's where this contraption got it's name:
It's called an Oregon Boot, and it was meant to replace the "classic" ball-and-chain. It was advertised as "the best security for the most desperate criminals."
These guys really were desperate. Look at some of the things guards managed to confiscate inside the prison:
 |
| .22 Caliber Zip Gun |
 |
| Book Bomb - Built by an inmate to assassinate another convict who testified against him. |
The original prison was known as the Washington Territorial Prison because Washington wasn't a state yet. It was built for $60,000 and opened in May 1887 with 97 convicts from a contract prison (we seem to be going back to those now!) in the Tacoma area of Washington.
There is a list of rules, or duties, that the convicts had to follow. They're pretty interesting, so if you ever get up Walla Walla way, be sure to go to Fort Walla Walla and find the building that house the prison artifacts.
If
you're having trouble with the Comment feature, please feel free to use our
blog email
to
reach us.
No comments:
Post a Comment