Prison Puzzle Pieces. Dave Basham
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Old Prison, 604 Main Street North, Stillwater, MN 55082
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LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Stillwater prison is a registered historical site. Stillwater prison is in Bayport. How did that happen, you ask? Well, I'll tell you, eventually.
On July 2, 1839, a member of a Sioux tribe was killed and scalped by two Chippewa near Lake Calhoun. This caused the Sioux to send out war parties to find them and get revenge.
The next day, the Sioux found the Chippewa camped in a marshy ravine on the shore of the St. Croix River and attacked. This area is on the north end of Stillwater.
The Sioux caught them by surprise. 21 Chippewa were killed, 29 were wounded and the Sioux had no injuries or deaths.
This bloody battle in this ravine became known as "Battle Hollow". This site was chosen for the Minnesota Territorial Prison.
Minnesota became a territory in 1849. Alexander Ramsey was its governor. At this time prisoners were held at Fort Snelling and Fort Ripley as counties had no jails. On September 3, 1849, Ramsey addressed the territorial legislature. He stated that "there should be proper and safe places of confinement." He requested that they ask the federal government for money to build a prison.
In June of 1850 the government appropriated $20,000 to the territory to be used to build the prison.
Both Stillwater and St. Paul were being considered to become the capitol. Stillwater was important because its logging industry was booming.
Battle Hollow had an area of 4 acres, which was enough space for a prison at that time. This area was surrounded on three sides by bluffs. This worked well for the Sioux to be able to contain and conquer the Chippewa without receiving any casualties themselves. The legislature felt that this would be a great location for containing inmates in their territorial prison. That is why in February of 1851, St. Paul was designated to be the capitol and Stillwater was chosen to be the site for the prison.
Construction began in May of 1851. The prison was ready by April 4, 1853. Francis Delano, one of the contractors building the prison was appointed to a five year term as its first warden. There were a total of 13 wardens running this prison until it was abandoned in 1914.
Buildings completed by the time the prison was open for business were a three story housing unit with six cells and two dungeons for solitary confinement, a workshop and an office. They were constructed of limestone taken from nearby quarries. The wall surrounding the prison was 12 feet high. A warden's house was built outside of the walls on the south bluff overlooking the prison.
(As the prison population began to grow, the original building that held only six cells was torn down and replaced by a building that held 158 prisoners.)
The cells measured five by seven feet and had steel floors. The ventilation was poor and the small cell hall windows allowed very little light to enter. It was always damp and dingy. There was no running water or toilet.
Flat out the location sucked. Whenever it rained or there was snow melt, the prison had water flowing into it that was running off from the higher elevations around it.
Water constantly flowed into the prison. Cellblock workers had to try to get the water out of the prison in order to keep it livable for the inmates. They had to sweep out the water, squeegee it or do whatever they could to try to get all of that water out of the prison. Because of this, they acquired the name of "Swampers." That name is still what the inmates that clean the cell halls are called to this day.
(Even as recently as 2000, in the infinite wisdom of the Minnesota politicians, the prison in Rush City was built on swamp land because the state could acquire that land cheap. This created greater expense problems after it was built due to parts of the prison sinking.)
Warden Delano built up a profitable business for himself using the prison, its prisoners and hiring about 15 people from Stillwater to come into the prison to work. He used eight thousand dollars of his own money to buy steam powered machinery for the manufacturing of shingles, sashes, doors, flooring, wagons, and plows.
Factory owners worked at getting the wardens job so they could rent prison shops and use cheap inmate labor.
There were very strict rules governing the old prison. Inmates were required to be kept busy from sunrise to sunset, so they worked less in the winter due to fewer hours of daylight. They were allowed thirty minutes off to eat each meal. Inmates were not allowed to talk except on rare occasions. Dungeon cells were used for the unruly or disobedient. When in the dungeon cells, they were allowed only bread and water. If that didn't take care of the problem, they would receive 20 lashes a day for 5 days.
Escapes were frequent by such methods as prying, digging, dismantling and sawing. There were no night guards. In 1856, seven men and one woman escaped. On June 27, 1857, every prisoner escaped. Francis Delano was still the warden. As his background was as a contractor, he was more concerned with using the prison and prisoners to make money rather than having a secure facility.
Minnesota became a state on May 11, 1858. The territorial prison became the first state prison. The new warden tightened security, ordering muskets and bayonets to be used by guards; reduced prison accessibility by outsiders; and refused to accept county prisoners.
In 1860, the prison started making the prisoners wear black and white striped uniforms. They were used until 1921.
In 1861, an addition included three cells for women.
In 1862, the legislature passed a law allowing prisoners to have their sentence reduced three days for every month of good behavior that they racked up.
In 1864, a 24 x 24 foot stable was built on the lot adjoining the Warden's House. The construction of the stable was completed in July for the cost of $75. The stables eventually evolved into a two-story framed carriage house. By 1910 the carriage house was used as an automobile garage.
Female convicts were generally locked up in local jails or county jails. In 1870, the prison started locking up females there on a regular basis. Nellie Sullivan became the prisons first female inmate since Minnesota had become a state. She was 19 years old. The best that I could find about her crime was an inference that she was a sexually promiscuous person. It became necessary to build a different area in which to house her and other women.
Matrons were assigned to care for, control and discipline the women prisoners. The wives of prison staff were generally assigned to be the matron. The work for the female offenders was washing, ironing and mending clothes. This set up went on for 50 years, which is when the Shakopee Correctional Facility for Women was opened.
In 1874 the Minnesota legislature passed a law that allowed prisoners to be paid for the work that they did.
November 22, 1876, the Younger Brothers, (Cole, Jim, and Bob) arrived to serve life sentences for the Northfield Bank Raid.
What did the prisoners eat in 1879? The Minnesota Department of Corrections web site states that "typical prison food consisted of boiled meat, potatoes, vegetable and two slices of bread on a tin dish with a cup of water. Coffee, tea and porridge were also served. Milk was a delicacy reserved for the sick. Fruit, butter, salt and pepper were not provided."
The prison had two fires in 1884, both in January. The first fire was on the 8th. The second and worst was on the 25th. This fire started in the wood working shop. The state militia was called and helped get about 350 prisoners out of their cells. The temperature was below zero. The inmates were held in different parts of the prison yard before being moved to a foundry where they were guarded by the militiamen. An inmate who did not obey the order to leave was the only casualty. About the only objects saved were the prison records.
The Younger Brothers had been in Stillwater prison seven years at this point in time. Cole Younger later wrote, "There was danger of a panic and a terrible