Perched on top of a rocky hill overlooking the Colorado River, in the town of Yuma, in the far southwest corner of the state of Arizona, stand the ruins of the famous Yuma Territorial Prison. The penitentiary was founded in 1876 to lock away the most dangerous felons including murderers, bandits, cattle rustler, drug traffickers and gamblers that roamed lawlessly in this remote corner of the wild west. During its 33 years of operation, a total of 3,069 prisoners, including 29 women, from 21 different countries lived within these walls. These included, aside from hardened criminals, people convicted of odd crimes such as polygamy, seduction, obstructing a railroad, and selling liquor to Indians.
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