Prison Puzzle Pieces. Dave Basham
shortly before the fire was reported around 8pm. It took more than 150 fire fighters from 15 neighboring fire departments to put out the fire. Due to its secluded location, vandalism on this site had been an ongoing problem. Two of the three men, that did not set the fire, turned themselves in two days later. They identified the man that started the fire. An 18-year-old St. Paul man was apprehended and charged with arson the next day. This crime carried a penalty of 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine. When police asked him why he set the fire, he replied, "I was bored." The two accomplices told the police investigators that they entered the building to investigate rumors that it was haunted by the ghost of Cole Younger. The three men explored the old twine factory building for 40 minutes. The arsonist stated that when he became bored, he placed a piece of cardboard under a shelf and lit it with a cigarette lighter. However, the next day he said that he might have thrown the cardboard into an open can, also igniting spilled liquid. The State Fire Marshall's office confirmed the use of a flammable liquid to start the fire. Due to this historic site being destroyed, the city sold the land to a developer for the same amount ($845,000) that they paid for it back in 1996.
In 2004, the prison population was continuing to rise. The DOC had been trying to maximize the number of beds in their prisons. They made future plans for more beds. In the mean time, they contracted with county jails to house their overflow of criminals.
Wisconsin even took some of our prisoners. I don't know when this started, but I believe it is no longer necessary.
Methamphetamine became very popular causing the prison population to spike. By January 1, 2005, the number of inmates locked up in Minnesota prisons due to being involved with meth was at 1,087 verses only 139 just 4 years earlier.
A prisoner attempting to escape was found in the basement of a prison industry building by a trained dog. He was captured 90 minutes after it was discovered that he was not where he was supposed to be. He had made a dummy and positioned it at the sink in his cell as if it were washing up. A seasoned corrections officer identified that something was wrong when checking that cell during the mid day count. That same prisoner was caught trying to escape from a jail in 1985. Escape materials were discovered in his cell in 1992.
In 2007, the warden's house across the street from the prison was refurbished and dedicated as the Jack & Adele Young Conference Center. They were the last ones to live there when Jack was warden from 1968-1971. This would have been a good house for one of those remodeling shows to cover.
(While I was working at the prison, a training instructor was hired for both the Stillwater and Oak Park Heights Prisons. This house was being used for training and had not yet been refurbished. Bats lived in this house and were frequently seen flying around. One day this instructor was bitten by one of these bats, thus his nickname became "Batman.")
The new segregation unit opened shortly after I retired in 2008. "The 150-bed unit provides a safer, more functional and energy efficient means of supervising offenders who must be segregated from the general population. The $19.6 million building features solid doors, electronic locking, and wider hallways."
YOUNGER BROTHERS
Thomas Coleman Younger
(January 15, 1844 - March 21, 1916)
Cole was paroled in 1901, pardoned in 1903 and died in 1916 at the age of 72.
James Hardin Younger
(January 15, 1848 - October 19, 1902)
Jim was paroled in 1901 and committed suicide in 1902 at the age of 54.
John Harrison Younger
(1851 – March 17, 1874)
John died from a gunshot in 1874 at the age of 23.
Robert Ewing Younger
(October 29, 1853 - September 16, 1889)
Bob was frequently sick in his cell and died in 1889 of tuberculosis. He was 36 years old.
These four brothers had 10 other siblings.
The main historical aspect of Stillwater prison is entwined with the Younger Brothers being incarcerated there after getting caught at the Northfield bank robbery that they attempted with the James brothers.
I use the word entwined because one of the occupations used to keep the inmates busy at the first prison was the making of twine. The twine factory is where the fire started in 1884. It is also where a vandal started a fire in 2002 wiping out this historical building.
The Younger brothers were ideal inmates. This helped to get them released from their life sentences. They helped maintain order during the fire in 1884 and kept other inmates from escaping.
How did the Younger's become criminals and wind up in Stillwater Prison?
Missouri was an organized union state, however many residents owned slaves or sympathized with the South. In 1861, those siding with the union and those siding with the confederates began fighting a guerrilla war.
The James and Younger brothers belonged to slave owning families. The mother of Frank and Jesse James was pro south.
In July, 1862, the Younger brother's father, who was reported to be pro union, was killed by Union Soldiers while on a business trip. Because of this, several of the Younger brothers, including Cole, joined Quantrill's Raiders. John and his younger brother Bob were too young to join so they stayed home to look after their mother and sisters.
William Clarke Quantrill was the most famous "bushwhacker" of them all. Frank James was with him at one point in time.
Later, in 1864, when Frank was fighting under Archie Clement and Bloody Bill Anderson, Jesse joined them at the age of 16.
Cole eventually joined the regular Confederate army.
When the war ended, Frank surrendered in Kentucky; Jesse surrendered in Missouri after being shot through a lung; Cole Younger returned from a mission to California; Quantrill and Anderson had both been killed.
The James brothers continued to associate with their old guerrilla buddies, who remained together under the leadership of Archie Clement. This began their criminal career.
On February 13, 1866, the first daylight, peacetime, armed bank robbery in U.S. history was executed, when the Clay County Savings Association was held up. Archie Clement was suspected of leading the raid. Frank James and Cole Younger were implicated. Some say Jesse was there, some say Jesse was at least involved in the planning of it, however, nobody knew anything for sure. The only thing I can say for sure is that this little building is an interesting tourist attraction.
When Archie Clement was killed in 1868, his followers stayed together. They became known as the James-Younger Gang.
With the exception of Cole, the Younger's tried to live a peaceful life after the war, but they were harassed.
At one point, Bob was knocked unconscious and John was hung four times by people that didn't like what Cole was up to and those still having opposing viewpoints from the civil war. They finally cut him down and hacked at his body with knives. He survived. John was quicker to anger and retaliate than was Bob. That is probably why there was such a vast difference in the violence levied upon him at this instance. If this story is true, it shows a high level of incompetence and indecision if they actually raised and lowered John on a rope four times, knifed him and still did not kill him. This would be pure lack of dedication to a cause. They must have been like the people of today that have nothing better to do than to accumulate and picket for a cause they know nothing about, just to get on television news shows.
After their mother's death, John, Bob and Jim Younger moved often because it wasn't safe for them to stay in one place very long.
On Jan 20, 1871 John shot and killed two Texas Deputy Sheriffs that were trying to arrest him. Why? Don't know! I guess I would relate the two deputies to rogue correction officers and John to an inmate of the smart mouthed variety. Without anyone else around, a situation like this could escalate.
In