WASHINGTON STATE PENITENTIARY

Would like to move from cache to cache and visit as many communities with correctional facilities as possible. Any pictures and short description of facility appreciated.

WASHINGTON STATE PENITENTIARY Prior to the advent of county governments in the territory of Washington, crime and punishment were left pretty much to the disputants. It was readily accepted that if one caught a burglar, a summary execution was in order. Where communities existed, public flogging was a common method of punishing minor offenses. Hangings occurred quite frequently and usually at the scene of the crime without judicial sanction. In retrospect, this barbarism really had some justification. Imagine for a moment, being faced with transporting a dangerous felon to court across a hundred or more miles of rattlesnakes and bear country, dodging insulted Indians and murderous thieves for days on end just to have some judge tell you to hang the culprit. It was a lot safer to deal with it on the spot and a lot cheaper too. 1855 "The Territorial Legislature...recognized this need for a penitentiary...the legislature passed a bill authorizing a penitentiary with a maximum capacity of 100 convicts. Vancouver, the county seat of Clark County, was the chosen site. The initial construction of the penitentiary was delayed until the territory received the appropriation from the United States Congress..." from 7-19-87 WWUB article based on a thesis by Gerald B. Thomas. 1857 "...Congress appropriated $30,000 for the Vancouver penitentiary, but the bond to secure the money for the building purpose was not given to the territory until 1860. 1860 By this time, the construction of the penitentiary had become embroiled in the issue of the location of the territorial capitol. "Thomas Representatives from Vancouver introduced a bill to move the capitol to their city. In exchange for the support of Port Townsend, the citizens of Port Townsend did not support this deal, and therefore the prison was not built there. Indecision would delay the site location until 1877. 1870's County governments began to get a case of the "respectability’s" and built jails. 1874 By this time county jails were overcrowded, and surplus convicts were sent to the Old Hudson's Bay jail in Steilacoom. 11/1883 Territorial Legislature authorized the Governor to select a suitable site for a Penitentiary. A Penitentiary was created as well as a Penitentiary Commission, comprised of Legislative Representatives Henry Landis (Port Townsend) and Benjamin Sharpstien of Walla Walla. They delayed their work until 1885, when the fund would be fully collected. (1885) 7/16/1885 The Penitentiary Commission officially recommends Walla Walla as the new location of the penitentiary. 1/22/1886 Passed unanimously in the House, Governor Watson Squire signed Council Bill 37 into law. Petitions and mass meetings to appeal the new location and to keep the prison at Seatco were organized by Thurston County Sheriff William Billings. Obviously he failed. There have always been persistent rumors about Walla Walla having a choice between a prison and a university. There is no evidence to support this story. In fact, the city most probably wanted a prison to prevent any future possibility as a location for a second college. Whitman College was already established, although struggling. Whitman officials are thought to have lobbied for the prison, as this would preclude the legislature from choosing Walla Walla for future major institutions, i.e. a competitive University. So although Walla Wallan's did not have a choice, by winning the prison, they did close out any chance of becoming the home to a territorial college. 5/22/1886 City of Walla Walla purchases 160 acres from Levi Ankeny and Wife for $6,000. The city donated the land to the territory. Legislature appropriates $60,000 for construction of the Penitentiary. 9/1886 Construction begins on "stockade" the original basalt and mortar wall, which still stands between 1 and 2 towers. 2/1887 Construction of walls and first cell house were completed. Cells were made of iron, with strap iron grill doors. Four of the cells were "dark"; having solid fronts, and were used for disciplinary purposes. 5/1887 Territorial Governor appointed F.W. Payne as the first superintendent. In "History of Walla Walla County", by W.D. Lyman (1901), Superintendent Frank Payne is given credit for the efforts causing the Penitentiary to be located at Walla Walla.