Our Epic Northwestern Journey – Part 7 – Doin’ Time in Boise

After a short break to help celebrate my mother-in-law Ollie’s 95th birthday, I am back. We do not have anything on the books for any other traveling at the moment, so I am am not going anywhere any time soon. Now I can pick up where I left off about sharing our adventures from our epic Northwestern journey as well as all about food, both mine and otherwise, and all kinds of other good stuff, once again.

One of the other things Scott and Traci recommended for us to see was the Idaho State and Territorial Penitentiary, also in Boise. It was a functional prison from 1868-1973. It became a historic landmark in 1974. It was a fascinating tour, filled with all kinds of history and interesting facts. This was one of four territorial prisons in the U.S. We went to one in Laramie, Wyoming, then there is another one in Montana and the fourth one in Texas. We have yet to visit the other two.

The Processing Room.

The weapons room.

The grounds were BEAUTIFUL. You wouldn’t expect to see beautiful rose and iris gardens in a state penitentiary, but the gardens were exquisite. They were actually planted as an incentive for the prisoners. If they were good, and displayed good behavior, they could view the gardens. If not, well let’s just say they were punished severely, with no views at all, among many other things.

Our tour guide was very informative and we learned a lot about life within these limestone walls. The prisoners designed and built the prison, maintained all of the lands, grew their own food, and much more.

Our guide explaining about life within the prison. Life was harsh, to say the least.

Aside from the flowers, the prisoners who behaved well also were allowed to keep a cat that one of the prisoners had smuggled in through his toolbox while out doing one of his prison jobs. The prisoners named the cat Dennis. Dennis the cat was quite the celebrity and was very well loved by all. When he died, they buried him on site as a way to honor him.

Many of the prisoners were well educated, and in most cases were more educated than most of the guards. This was pointed out by the sign designating the bench for the guards only. It should read “benches for guards only”.

There were ten executions in the prison. Not all of them went well. There were a few botched executions. The executions were by hanging. Here is the execution room.

Raymond Snowden was the last prisoner to be executed at the Idaho State Penitentiary.

There were both men and women imprisoned here, and for the most part, they were only separated, but still basically housed in the same areas. This was until there was a rape of a female prisoner by a guard, that resulted in pregnancy and a botched “forced” abortion. After that, a separate women’s prison was constructed just across the street in 1920.

Many of the prisoners, and especially the women prisoners, were incarcerated and sentenced to hard time for very minor infractions of the law, or for things that we take for granted today. Luckily times are a changin’.

This was a fascinating tour and a must see for anyone who loves history. There was more history on site as well, but I will save that for later. There was a military museum on the prison grounds as well. We visited it while waiting for our tour to begin.

Life is short and we never know how long we have. Carpe diem. Seize the day. Make the most out of everyday, and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.