From The Utah Peace Officer Spring 2002  Vol 79 Issue 1

Early Law Enforcement 
                  History of the Old Sugarhouse Prison - 1850 to 1952
Reprint: Utah Peace Officer, Fall/Winter 1977.

                         By Ray Haueter - former UPOA Historian, 
                               UPOA President 1970 - 1971, now deceased 

         By popular request, we reprint Ray's stories of Early Law Enforcement for your pleasure

  In response to many requests from readers of our Peace Officer's magazine, this writer will attempt to include in each issue a history of early law enforcement in the State of Utah. You, as readers, can help by furnishing information on unpublished manuscripts, news articles and histories of early law enforcement officers that you feel would be of interest to other members of the U.P.O.A.
 As Historian, and Chairman of the Magazine Committee, I will welcome all articles you can submit. It is our desire to make this publication one of the most informative and interesting magazines you can read. All articles should be of interest to members of the U.P.O.A. and their families. We believe in making this a wholesome family magazine, both interesting and instructive. Your help and criticisms will be greatly appreciated. However, remember that it is easy to criticize without becoming personally involved. Let's get involved and submit some material.
óRay Haueter: Historian-Chairman

 The following information was taken from a study by Mr. James B. Hill, completed in June of 1952. This thesis was presented to the faculty of the department of History, Brigham Young University, Provo, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in History, and is entitled "History Of The Utah State Prison, 1850 to 1952."
 I had the opportunity to work with Mr. Hill during his research of this material, while employed as Identification Officer at the Utah State Prison. I am personally aware of the research and the authentication of the material contained in this thesis, and I am sure that it will prove to be of interest to many readers. This Thesis was published as a book in very limited numbers, copies being on file at the B.Y.U., one copy being given to the Warden of the Utah State Prison, and one copy given to this writer for his help and interest in compiling the enclosed information. Mr. James B. Hill expresses his feelings and those of us who had the opportunity to assist him, when he states the following:

PREFACE
 Down through the ages, men with the insatiable desire to know and record truths of the past have been responsible for the many historical volumes that we enjoy today. Only lovers of history can fully appreciate the thoughts that arise in the mind of the student of history as he stands and gazes upon relics and ruins of the past.
 In 1943 the writer (James B. Hill) first visited the old Sugarhouse Prison in Salt Lake City and was intrigued with the old buildings surrounded by high stone walls. Two years later he stood on a small hill east of the prison walls and beheld for the first time a potter's field where the unclaimed bodies of many dead criminals lay buried. As he walked among the crude headstones, many of which bore no identifying name, he was possessed with a great desire to know the history of the prison, its former employees, and the men who made its construction necessary.
 The real purpose of this thesis is to present a general history of Utah State Prison in order that a record of that institution may be preserved. This phase of Utah history has long been neglected. It is hoped that a contribution has also been made to a better understanding of Utah's penal system. In order to present the most comprehensive study of the subject, the writer explored a number of sources of information. Among the methods employed were letter writing, personal interviews and library research. Through letter writing, several interviews were arranged that resulted in obtaining much valuable information.
 Letters were written to the National Archives, to James V.  Bennett, Director of Bureau Of Prisons, and to Senator Arthur V. Watkins requesting their services in uncovering information on the history of the prison. They were most cooperative. Personal interviews, as a means of research, proved to he very successful. Card catalogs in the libraries visited by the writer contained very few references on Utah State Prison. Thus, a great deal of reading and searching through old diaries, newspapers, periodicals, and history books was necessary to find pertinent information.
 The writer was successful in obtaining microfilm of several unpublished manuscripts containing much useful information on the subject from the libraries of the University of Utah and the University of California. Utah State Prison guards were cooperative in giving information as well as other sources.

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
 The term prisons, as used in this thesis, refers to institutions built for the express purpose of housing offenders committed by due process of law.
 The forerunners of modern prisons were the workhouses, which began to appear toward the last of the 16th century in Europe. The workhouses were used not to imprison felons but to incarcerate debtors, vagrants and paupers.
 In the early part of the 18th century, jails and workhouses were used to confine indicted prisoners awaiting trial. These institutions could not be called prisons in the modern sense of the word, because the prisoners were only incarcerated there until executed, banished or freed. The conditions in the jails and workhouses were very unsanitary. Inmates lived in indescribable filth and many died of diseases. Jailers served food to only those who could afford to pay; consequently many died of starvation. During this same period, corporal punishment, the galleys, and banish-merit began to become popular modes of punishment for prisoners. Prior to this time the death penalty was used indiscriminately for practically every offense.
 A few years before the American Revolutionary War the colonies began to build prisons because their jails were not considered safe enough to imprison dangerous criminals. In 1773 Connecticut used an old mine as a prison. Inmates were confined in the mine night and day and were chained while sleeping. The lack of sunshine, food and clothing resulted in the death of many inmates.
 After the turn of the 19th century, various states began to restrict the use of the death penalty and corporal punishment. Prisons began to house more and more felons, with these changes the prisons naturally became overcrowded. Many prisons were poorly ventilated, ill equipped, and unsuitable for the humane treatment of prisoners. Reforms were badly needed in all of the states.
 The Quakers in Pennsylvania took the lead in bringing about many changes in the operation of prisons in the United States. In 1787 they organized a society to help alleviate the sufferings of criminals incarcerated in public prisons. They influenced the Pennsylvania legislature to appropriate money to build a prison with individual cells to replace the old custom of housing inmates in common rooms. Thus, for the first time in America, prisoners were given private cells.
 There were two primary purposes the Quakers hoped to accomplish in segregating convicts. They hoped to keep the prisoners separated so they would not influence or contaminate one another. Secondly, they wanted the prisoners to be undisturbed so they could reflect upon their misdeeds and have sufficient time to repent and reform. Prisoners were confined to their cells for their entire term of imprisonment. Only chaplains and select prison officials could visit them. Permitted to read only the Bible, they lost all contact with the outside world. Work was prohibited because it was thought that it might divert the inmate's mind and prevent him from reflecting on the crimes he had committed. This penal system developed in Pennsylvania was soon adopted by other states.
 In New York state in the first half of the 19th century another penal system developed. Prisoners were divided into three groups. They were classified according to the nature of the crimes they had committed. Prisoners deemed most incorrigible were placed in solitary confinement and not allowed to work. The second group, composed of less hardened criminals, was confined only three days a week. The third group, consisting of first offenders, was housed together and allowed to work every day. Officials soon learned that prisoners in solitary confinement, as well as those living together, presented serious problems. Those living alone and denied any contacts often went insane. Prisoners living together practiced sexual perversion and were often unmanageable, although many were curbed by the use of the whip. Faced with these problems, prison officials developed a new plan. Inmates were allowed to eat and work together during the day but were locked in separate cells at night. Silence at all times was demanded of the inmates. This newly developed penal system was called the Auburn System.
 The Pennsylvania plan, or the Auburn system, was being used by most of the prisons in the United States when a prison was first constructed in Utah Territory. The Mormon Church's unique system of ecclesiastical government had a great influence on the justice and penal practices of the prison. Early officials of the territorial prison were Mormons. They were naturally influenced by penal practices peculiar to their time but treated prisoners well. The penal system used in the territorial prison was a modified form of the Auburn system. Rehabilitation of the prisoner has been recognized as an important feature of a prison since the first one was built. Religious services and educational opportunities were introduced early in the prisons in Utah.
 The contract system of hiring out prisoners was ruled illegal after 1888, but before that time it was successfully used as a rehabilitation program in Utah. In other prisons of the United States the contract system was abused. Prisoners were literally worked to death. Territorial prisoners of Utah worked also but received humane treatment, and from 1855 to 1878 not one criminal died in prison.
 Utah's territorial prison of 1855 was located in the east section of the city, where Sugarhouse, Utah, stands today. (Note: The exact location of the Utah State Prison is where Sugarhouse Park now is located.) When Utah became a state, the property became the site of Utah State Prison. The institution was used successfully for over forty years but gradually became outmoded and overcrowded. A new prison site was purchased in the late thirties and a new prison was eventually built.
 The new institution, costing approximately three and a half million dollars, is located about twenty-two miles south of Salt Lake City, on Highway 91. The prison proper, modern in every way, covers an area of twenty-four acres. The whole prison site consists of over a thousand acres. Thus, many changes have occurred in Utah's penal system since 1855. Today Utah State Prison is one of the finest state prisons in the United States.
 Practically all of the repressive aspects of the 19th century prisons vanished in Utah with the completion of the new prison at the Point of the Mountain. Some people still contend, perhaps with justification, that penal institutions, because of their very nature, cannot hope to reform a great number of prisoners. That is so, it is contended, because one living for many years in a prison community can hardly be trained to live in a community composed of normal human beings.
 In spite of the drabness of penal life, the majority of offenders do mend their ways and become useful law- abiding citizens. That is so because the men alter their makeup despite the prison.

CHAPTER II
JUSTICE IN EARLY UTAH
 With the arrival of Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake valley in July, 1847, came the first law and order to the Great Basin area. The first laws and the judicial bodies of the Mormons were very closely tied to their religious beliefs. Theo-democracy controlled nearly all aspects of living including punishment meted out for violations of doctrines and regulations of the church. The first handling of criminals was entirely a religious responsibility, often involving fines, restitution and corporal punishments. Governmental jails and prisons came very gradually. Many of the penal practices in the western part of the United States today can be linked to the innovations of these first people coming to Utah seeking a place of peace, where they could live in safety from the persecutions of their enemies and worship as they felt they should.
 The history of Mormon laws and their enforcement goes back almost to the beginning of the organization of the church, Edward Partridge, was called by revelation to be ìordained a Bishop unto the church.î ìTo see to all things as it shall be appointed unto him in my laws in the day that I shall give them.î Again in February 1831, a revelation on church government was given, and therein was described how transgressors in the Church should be treated. The revelation read:
 "And if any man or woman shall commit adultery, he or she shall be tried before two elders of the church, or more, and every word shall be established against him or her by two witnesses of the church, and not of the enemy; but if there are more than two witnesses it is better. But he or she shall be condemned by the mouth of two witnesses, and the elders shall lay the case before the church, and the church shall lift up their hands against him or her, that they may be dealt with according to the law of God.
 And if it can be, it is necessary that the Bishop is present also."
 It can be safely assumed that the men called to be Elders were, as a rule, intelligent, and discreet persons; they were men from among the people, acquainted with affairs of the people, and capable of seeing that justice was rendered. It would be impossible to say when trials before a body of Elders were superseded by other courts, but though changes did come about gradually in this matter as in others, it could be plainly seen that the Bishop's Court was to become a fixed institution in the church. Such trials as have been mentioned could be held either before the Bishop, or before the Elders, as circumstances might require. Indeed, at that early date, there were good and sufficient reasons why local tribunals were conducted only by the Elders. In the first place, there were no Bishop's wards organized, only branches of the church here and there presided over the Elders or Priests. Secondly the saints were scattered more or less widely, and all were inexperienced. Thirdly, at that time Elders were the highest officers in the church except those who had been ordained to the Apostleship. And fourthly, Bishop Partridge, whose duties were general, could not always be present to attend investigation of local difficulties.
 The proceedings in the Bishop's Court were never exactly uniform, but a general pattern seems to have been followed fairly closely. Complaints against crimes or wrong doing were usually made by more than one person. Then, a summons was issued to the accused person, requesting his appearance before the Bishop's Court to answer to or stand trial on, certain charges brought against him. It was usual for the summons to contain the charge, in order to give the accused time to prepare for trial. When the trial came, the Bishop with two counselors conducted the case. If one of the counselors was absent, or if he was an interested party, he was barred from acting, and the Bishop was free to choose a High Priest to sit with him and the other counselor for the occasion. When the parties were both present the trial began by opening with prayer. Then the case was opened; then the defendant was charged as accused and could defend himself. He could do so in writing if he so desired. After both sides had been presented, witnesses for either side could be reheard or cross- examined. The accused also had to have the testimony against him of at least two credible witnesses... members of the church. Records of the testimony were recorded and read, and after all evidence was heard, a decision and point was rendered, which was in writing, and a copy was given to the accused.
The decision of the Court against the accused was usually one of the following judgments:
 1. That he make a public confession of sin committed.
 2. That he make restitution for the wrong done.
 3. That he perform some service in the future.
 4. That he suffer a penalty for noncompliance with some former decision.
 a. That he be cut off from the church.
 In the event of excommunication, the Bishop's Court could sever from the church only lay-members and those holding the Aaronic Priesthood. At such time the case ended. But if the accused held the Melchezedek Priesthood, the Bishop's Court had only the authority to withdraw the hand of fellowship. Such action was immediately reported to the High Council, and that body decided whether or not a person was to be severed from the church, on the findings of the Bishop's Court.
 The Bishop's Court served as a judiciary for the Mormons when coming across the plains to Utah. They were well organized to deal with law breakers or sinners among their own ranks. Before they were driven out of Nauvoo, Illinois, local law and order had been maintained by an organization of policemen, all of whom were Mormons. This organization numbered as high as five hundred men at one time, and had the duty of guarding Brigham Young's house, the arsenal and other church buildings when danger from the mobs threatened in the days following the martyrdom of Joseph Smith in 1844. The policemen were disorganized after the Mormons were driven from Nauvoo, but many of them were later organized into police forces to serve in the various camps traveling to Utah. Upon reaching Salt Lake City a large number of these former policemen again saw duty in the keeping of law and order.
 In Winter Quarters, Iowa, the Mormons were well organized, and the job of maintaining law and order was delegated to several of the former members of the Nauvoo police force. Offenses were committed and many were tried before the Elders, but some of the offenders guilty of certain crimes were punished without a trial, if the evidence was strong enough. On one occasion the police took offenders and severely lashed them, and were strongly sanctioned in their actions by Brigham Young. 
 Hoses Stout had been one of the policemen in Nauvoo, and was also a leader of police maintaining law and order at Winter Quarters, Iowa. On one occasion he was in charge of administering whippings to three young men at Winter Quarters for the crime of adultery. The victims were first given a lecture on the law they had broken, then their backs were bared and they were whipped separately. Each man received about twenty-five lashes and was released. Blood often flowed from men's backs after such lashings had been administered. Without doubt these whippings had their good merits and served as warnings to help keep other would-be offenders on the straight and narrow path.
 In 1846, and 1847, the Mormons had another practice of dealing with lawbreakers in their midst. Undesirable people in their camps who were guilty of theft or adultery were often whipped and required to leave camp and never come back. They were warned that more severe punishment would befall them if they were ever foolish enough to return.
 There were many non-Mormons married to Mormons traveling in their companies to Utah Territory. From all appearances, whippings and ostracisms occurring among the Mormons traveling to the Great Basin Area were administered mostly to the non-Mormons, because they were not affected by being excommunicated or disfellow-shipped.
 The government first established in Salt Lake Valley was that of a stake organization presided over by a stake presidency and a high council. John Smith, the uncle of the prophet Joseph Smith, was selected to be president, with Charles C. Rich and John Young as his counselors. Three other officials were to act under the stake authorities; Charles C. Rich, chief military commander; John Vancott, marshal; and Alber Carrington, clerk and historian. According to the statement of one of the pioneers, this government was adopted in accordance with the Mormon law of common consent. He said:
 "The high council, a local ecclesiastical court, consisting of twelve members, presided over by the president of the stake and his two counselors, fifteen in all besides the clerk, assumed provisional municipal power by the common consent of the community. This was the first government established by the Mormons within the confines of the Great Basin to establish and maintain law and order."
 The duties of the officials were numerous and varied. Besides being leaders of the religious organization, they served as a court of justice. They had to fulfill many duties that make for the establishing of a frontier community, such as, granting of licenses to establish sawmills, control of the mountain streams, the granting of building permits and supervision of labor, as well as the assignment of farming lands.
 There were evidently few cases of law breaking during the first year in Salt Lake Valley (1847-1848) which had to be handled by the officials. At this time there were no jails, so offenders were punished by other methods. The general penalty for stealing was for the offender to promise to do better and to ëmake proper confessions and restore fourfold.
 In 1849 William Bird was tried before the Bishop's Court for stealing a pair of boots from an emigrant. Bird was found guilty and condemned to pay the emigrant fourfold the cost of the boots. In addition to this, he was made to pay the officers bringing him to court for their troubles, and fined fifty dollars, which was to be applied towards the upkeep of the roads in the territory.
 One of the early settlers in Salt Lake Valley, John Nebeker, found that there were no laws (only ecclesiastical laws in the area. Since there were no jails in which to sentence prisoners for wrong doing, various other methods of punishments were instituted. Whippings were in order in these early days. and a whipping post was set up. John Nebeker had the job of prosecuting criminals before the High Council, and in his writings he gives an account, which indicates the penal philosophy and practice of early Utah law enforcement relative to a stealing case:
 "The case was for stealing; the judgment was a $10.00 fine or ten lashes. The article stolen was a lariat, and he was caught with it. I volunteered myself to help him pay the fine, but he would not, so he was whipped. The bell-post . . . a pole on which a public bell was hung to call the people together, was the place designated. I proceeded to tie him, but he refused to be tied; said it was not in the decision. C.C. Rich was appointed by the council to see that the whipping was carried out in the spirit and meaning of the judgment. I appealed to him whether he should be tied or not. Rich decided that as the decision did not mention it and the man didn't want to be tied, it was his right to choose for himself inasmuch as he would stand to be whipped. He said he would stand up to it. He was then told to strip. He refused to on the ground that it was not in the decision. But his refusal would not count. He stripped and the lashes were administered in the presence of the public. The penalty for stealing in cases generally, in cases when people would promise to do better, was to make proper confessions and restore fourfold, if the person upon whom the theft was committed required it."
 In the Great Basin Area by 1849 the population had greatly increased, and Brigham Young reorganized the then existing stake by dividing it into nineteen ecclesiastical wards. There were now more Bishops, and the people were more centralized than they were when the Bishop's Courts were first established in 1831. With the division of the stake into nineteen wards, control was transferred from the stake officials to the Bishops on January 6, 1849. It was a complete fusion of church and state but it seemed to meet with the hearty approval of the people. It worked because practically all inhabitants of the area belonged to the Mormon church. It was felt that if there were no Gentiles (Note: The name Gentile was used by the Mormons applied to any nonmember of the L.D.S. church.) and no other government, there would be no need of civil law.
 In August, 1849, Captain Howard Stansbury, of the United States Topographical engineers, arrived in Utah for the purpose of exploring parts of the Great Basin and making a survey of the lakes in Utah. Captain Stansbury and his men spent the winter of 1849ó1850 in Salt Lake City among the Mormons. Stansbury writes that the Mormon communities were peaceful, cheerful, harmonious and that contentment and prosperity pervaded the settlements around Salt Lake City. Stansbury and Lt. John W. Gunnison, one of his party, each made studies of Mormon social life and published their findings. Each of them testified that the government of Mormons, theo-democracy, administered justice equitably. In speaking of the courts of the State of Deseret, Gunnison said that "there was every appearance of impartiality and strict justice done to all parties." 
 In the words of Stansbury: "The jurisdiction of the State of Deseret had been extended over and was vigorously enforced upon all who came within its borders, and justice was equitably administered alike to ëSaintsí and Gentilesó as they term all who are not of their persuasion... Then courts were constantly appealed to by companies of passing emigrants, who, having fallen out by the way, could not agree upon the division of their property. The decisions were remarkable for fairness and impartiality, and if not submitted to were sternly enforced by the whole power of the community."
 
 

For the first year and a half in the Great Basin, the Saints had no other form of government than their ecclesiastical organization. This organization proved very satisfactory because most of the people in the Great Basin were of the same religion. For several years after settling in Salt Lake Valley the Mormons enjoyed peace and quiet as only a politically persecuted people would. They were happy away from their enemies. The feeling of peace and happiness, the absence of violence and lawlessness, and the security felt by the Mormons during this time was forcefully revealed in a letter from Parley P. Pratt to his brother, Orson, who was on a mission to England;
"I have now resided almost a year in this lonesome retreat, where civilized man has not made his home for the past thousand years, and where the ripening harvest has riot been enjoyed for ages, until this present season. During this period, the sound of war, the rise and fall of empires, the revolutions of states and kingdom . . . the news of any kind has scarcely reached my ears. . . . All is quiet . . . stillness. No elections, no police reports, no murders, no wars in our little world. How quiet, how still, how peaceful, how happy, how lonesome, how free from excitement we live. The legislation of our high council, the decision of some judge or court of the church, a meeting a dance, a visit, an exploring tour . . . is all that break up the monotony of our busy and peaceful life. Our old firelocks have not been rubbed up, or our swords unsheathed because of any alarm. No policeman or watchman of any kind have been on duty to guard us from external or internal danger. The drum has beat, to be sure, but it was to remind us that war had once been known among the nations, then to arouse us to tread the martial and measured step of those who muster for the war, or march to the battlefield. Oh, what a life we live! It is the dream of the poet actually fulfilled in real life."
This atmosphere of peace and quiet, and absence of lawlessness in the Salt Lake Valley was soon interrupted by emigrants passing through the Great Basin area. Many of them came to Utah as a result of the great gold rush to California in 1849, and with this migration came a great increase in crime in the area. Trials were handled before Bishop's Courts or High Council Courts. If the findings of the Bishop's Court were unsatisfactory to the parties involved in the case, protests could be made, and the case taken from the Bishop's Court to the High Council Court. This practice was not often followed however, since the costs of the court already charged would just be added to the cost of the higher court. A final appeal could be made to the President of the Church, Brigham Young, who would administer justice in a patriarchal manner. President Young was not always satisfied with the rulings of the Bishop's Court, and on one occasion is supposed to have referred to them as not being able to decide a case between two old women, let alone two men.
After traveling across the plains to Salt Lake Valley in companies together, many of the emigrants had grievances of various kinds against each other. These grievances, such as fights, stealings, acts of negligence and etc., that could not be settled satisfactorily among themselves were handled before Bishop's Courts and High Council Courts when they arrived in Salt Lake City. Quite a common cause for court action among the California bound emigrants was that of the failure of certain emigrants companies to fulfill their promises of taking individuals to the California gold fields for specified sums of money. Many of these individuals settled in and around Salt Lake City, perhaps due to many rumors that the gold was becoming scarce in the gold fields of California.

Criminal Offenses  Committed by Immigrants
Emigrants passing through Salt Lake Valley committed many criminal offenses against the Mormons and were brought to trial for their deeds. Perhaps the most antagonizing crime they committed against the residents of Salt Lake Valley was that of trespassing. The emigrants brought their cattle across the plains and upon reaching SaIt Lake Valley pitched tents, or lived in their wagons, and turned their cattle loose to graze. Many times their cattle grazed upon the crops of the Mormons causing irreparable losses to them. Consequently these inconsiderate offenders were arrested and made to pay heavy fines. Their trials were before Bishop's Courts, and the emigrants complained vociferously over the fines, but the treatment they received was no more than the treatment customary in the West at that time.
Many of the emigrants going to the California gold fields reached Salt Lake City late in the fall of the year and, fearful of encountering heavy snows on their way to the Pacific coast, spent the winter in Salt Lake City (luring 1849 and 1850. Apparently many of these California bound emigrants wintering in Salt Lake City married Mormons and joined the Church. By becoming members of the Mormon faith, these "winter saints" gained much respect and were often allowed to purchase large amounts of food and equipment on credit. When the snows began melting in the early spring, a number of these emigrants who had joined the "saints" slipped away on their journey to California. Besides owing large debts they also stole many things from the Salt Lake Valley residents before they left. The victims of these outrages often went in pursuit of the emigrants and brought them back to trial before the Bishop's Courts in Salt Lake City. Needless to say, the Mormons became a little more wary of over-night converts to the church among the emigrants.
Two German emigrants on their way to California in 1850 stopped in Salt Lake City in the fall to spend the winter before going on to California in the spring. In a short time they were married and joined the Mormon church. They set up a butcher's shop together and were soon doing a good business among their new found friends. A few weeks later they were caught in the act of stealing an oxen to supply meat for their shop. Both were tried before the Bishop's Court and found guilty of stealing one oxen and attempting to steal another. They were fined $100.00 each and had to pay the cost of the court. In addition to the fine and costs of the court, they had to pay the owner for the oxen.
Emigrants passing through Salt Lake Valley were not responsible for all the crimes that reached the Bishop's Courts during this period. The Mormons were also guilty of wronging each other. In 1849 the High Council tried P. Sessions, a Mormon, for the crime of overcharging on the price of corn. He made quite a large profit from selling corn to emigrants passing through Salt Lake City. And the high prices may have influenced the emigrants in turning loose their cattle to graze at random on the Mormon's crops. Perhaps they reasoned that the fine for trespassing could be no greater than the price they had to pay for corn to feed their cattle. Sessions was found guilty of overcharging and was required to make restitution to all whom he had cheated.
In August 1849 an interesting event occurred revealing a type of justice rendered by the Mormons towards undesirables in their midst. The incident was recorded in the diary of Hoses Stout, who was then an attorney in Salt Lake City.
"The council today appointed a committee to notify a Mr. Pomroy to pack up his goods and leave here as 'he has found us in peace to leave us in peace.' This was because he was said to be one who had assisted to drive us from Missouri. He demanded a hearing which was granted. Some five or six of our people came forward and testified that they knew Mr. Pomroy in Missouri during the time of Mormon difficulties and that he was a warm friend of the Mormons. He even had to send off his family and property to keep them from mob violence such was the antipathy against him because he took such active part in Mormon's favor. He was honorably acquitted."
The above incident reveals two important things about Mormon justice at that time. It reveals first that the requiring of undesirables to leave a community was evidently an acceptable requirement at that time. It was also revealed that the Mormons were willing to give all a fair hearing before passing sentence.

Interesting Trial
In June of 1850 an interesting trial took place before the High Council in Salt Lake City. The charges were against several Mormons who had in some way gone contrary to the set standards of trading with Indians, as prescribed by a committee set up by the legislature for this purpose. The men were found guilty, whereupon they were whipped and released.
 The provisional state government that had been formed in 1849 was well organized with the Executive, legislative, and Judicial functionaries. They worked harmoniously under the constitution that was adopted, and all the exterior evidences of a government strictly temporal existed but it was closely blended with the religious administration of the church that it was hard to separate one from the other. This form of government proved satisfactory as long as most of the people were of the same religious faith, but during 1849 and 1850 many non-Mormons came into the Great Basin area. Brigham Young and the other leaders of the Mormons now realized that this ecclesiastical government would have to be changed. The problem then was to form a government that would prove satisfactory to both the non-Mormons and themselves, so that it would be acknowledged and recognized by the government of the United States.

State of Deseret Laws
On September 9, 1850, the Territory of Utah was created, but it was another year before the territorial government was fully put into effect. During this year of waiting to put the territorial government into effect, the laws of the State of Deseret continued to operate. One of the very first acts of the legislature of the Territory of Utah was to legalize and make binding and in full force all the laws of the State of Deseret.
The drawing up of the criminal code for the State of Deseret had begun in 1850, but due to many differences of opinion and much debate, the code was not put into effect until January 1, 1851. Three days later, on January 4, the first indictment ever submitted to a jury in the State of Deseret took place. The first case tried was for a larceny charge against a Mr. Henry Shenk and his accessory, Phillip George. Both men were found guilty, and each sentenced to two years at, hard labor, with a ball and chain about their ankles. Along with the sentences came the privilege of redeeming themselves, They could go free if they could pay the sum of $200 each. The men later were found guilty on another larceny charge and received additional sentences, which raised their total sentences to five years at hard labor with ball and chain on their ankles.
A convict who was given the privilege of redeeming himself for a certain sum of money could do so, or he could be purchased by another party. The prisoner then served out his term under the direction of the person who purchased him. Just when this practice started or ended is not certain. The practice was still being used, however, as late as 1856, which was two years after the Utah Penitentiary was completed.
Hoses Stout, who served in Salt Lake City as an attorney and policeman, recorded in his diary a transaction of the sale of a prisoner in July, 1856, in the words of Stout:
"This morning I sold William Maykin, the State Prisoner, to Colonel T. C. Willey for the term of one year for the sum of $100.00, he being to all expense and trouble and at his own risk, paying $50.00 in advance for him."
After January 1851 court trials were usually held in Fort Utah, which evidently had prison facilities because prisoners to be tried were confined there while awaiting trial. In early 1851 a special term of the county court was held in Fort Utah, which lasted twelve days. The sum total of the rendition of sentences were: thirty-three years and six months at hard labor with ball and chain, and two hundred and forty dollars fine in favor of the state, and ten dollars fine in favor of a plaintiff.
A very interesting thing to observe about early Utah justice was the attitude of the people in the Territory towards punishment of persons found guilty of adultery in the camps of the Mormons coming to the Great Basin area, were often whipped or expelled from the camps. The same practice was continued in Salt Lake Valley after the Mormons settled there. In April 1852 a man named Harvey Morse, who was known to be guilty of the attempted rape of two little girls under the age of six, was severely lashed for his crime. Sentence had been passed upon Morse by a Bishop's Court. The whipping was carried out by several policemen in Salt Lake City. Prior to this event, however, two other adultery cases had resulted in setting quite a precedence as to how those guilty of the crime should be punished in Utah Territory. In March 1851, a Mr. Hambleton shot and killed a Mr. Vaughn just outside the front door of a church, after Sunday services had ended, for allegedly having seduced his wife. A court of inquiry was called to investigate the case. A court of inquiry was then held, and Hambleton was acquitted by the court and by the voice of the people present. A few months later a man named James M. Monroe was also shot and killed for seducing the wife of Howard Egan, who had been to California seeking his fortune in the gold mines. When Egan returned from California, he found that his wife had given birth to a child, and that Monroe was its father. Monroe claimed that his affair with Egans wife had been only with her consent. Egan was defended in court that followed, by George A. Smith. Attorney Smith, who upheld Egan for what he had done, said that it was the duty of the nearest of kin to a female who was seduced to take the life of the seducer. They, the jury, deliberated only fifteen minutes and returned with a verdict of "not guilty," whereupon Egan was freed.
Hoses Stout, an attorney in Salt Lake City at that time, and also a Mormon, did not seem to think that the statements by George A. Smith relative to dealing with men guilty of adultery were quite right. He attended the trials of Hambleton and Egan and had this to say after Egan's trial ended:
"This is likely to be a precident (sic) for anyone who has his sister, or daughter seduced to take the law into his own hands and slay the seducer and I expect it will go still further, but of that at that time."

Women Blameless?
The surprising thing about these two cases was that none of the guilt for adultery was blamed upon either of the women involved. If the woman in either case had been raped rather than seduced, the action of the court in freeing both men would have been more understandable in the light of present day justice, even though murder had been committed. According to Judge Snow, a district Judge at that time, the killing of Monroe by Egan for the seducing of the latter's wife was in accordance with the established principles of justice known in these mountains. If Egan had failed to avenge the deed, it would have damned him in the eyes of everyone in his community.
Before 1852 there had been little need for rulings about condemned criminals, but with the increasing population of non-Mormons entering Salt Lake Valley crime increased. The nature of the crimes committed were also becoming more malicious. In view of these circumstances, the Legislature Assembly passed an act relative to punishing criminals convicted and sentenced to death in Utah Territory. This act was quite unique and perhaps one of the most interesting of its kind ever passed by a territorial government of the United States. The act reads as follows:
"When any person shall be convicted of any crime, the punishment of which is death according to the provisions of the act, and sentenced to die, said person shall suffer death by being shot, hung, or beheaded, as the court may direct, or the person so condemned shall have his option as to the manner of his execution."
Not many months after passage of the act relative to condemned criminals, two Indians were condemned to die for murdering two young brothers in Utah County. It appears that Allen Weeks, a farmer, living in Cedar Valley, Utah County, sent his two sons, William F. and Warren D. Weeks, up the canyon for a load of poles with an ox team. On August 25, 1854, a small band of Ute Indians numbering about ten or twelve, who had separated themselves from their regular tribe, camped near Cedar Valley. They swore among themselves that they would not make peace with the Whites until they had revenged certain wrongs they had received from them in Juab County in 1853. These Indians killed the Weeks brothers. They had no personal quarrel with the brothers but after waiting for a year for recompense from the White men and receiving none, killed the first Whites they saw. The Indians lay in wait at the mouth of a canyon to which inhabitants of Cedar Valley had been accustomed to going for wood and poles. When the Weeks brothers came along with their ox team, they were slain, their bodies mutilated and scalped by the Indians. When the boys did not return home that night, a searching party was organized and the mutilated bodies were found as the Indians had left them. Some friendly Indians witnessed the horrible crime, and fearing revenge from the Whites, captured two Indians mostly responsible for the murders and turned them over to the legal authorities.

First  Execution in Territory
The two Indians, Longhair and Antelope, were tried before a jury August 31, 1854, and with the testimony of eye witnesses against them, they confessed to their murderous deed. They were then sentenced to hang. In the court the Indians had been given two defense attorneys, A. W. Babbit, and Hoses Stout, but with evidence so positive against the Indians, the attorneys had nothing on which to hang even a pretended plea of defense. On September 15, 1854, the two were taken and hanged in the presence of a small company of spectators two miles below the Jordan River bridge on the West bank of the river. The place of execution was never publicly announced, at the request of the Territorial Marshal, but upon seeing the condemned Indians being escorted by a company of U.S. troops under the command of Colonel Steptoe, a small group of people followed and witnessed the first execution ever held in Utah Territory.

First White Man Executed
The first execution of a white man in Utah Territory did not occur until 1859. It seems that Thomas H. Ferguson, a young shoemaker from the East, had come to Utah Territory with the purpose of establishing himself in the trade of shoemaking. On September 17, 1859, Ferguson shot and killed his boss, Alex Carpenter, in an argument over wages due him. Ferguson was apparently drunk at the time of the murder and pleaded "not guilty" to the charges of first degree murder in the trial held on September 23, 1859. The jury found him guilty as charged and he was sentenced to be hanged on October 28, 1859, between the hours of twelve and one p.m.
On October 28, 1859 Ferguson was taken outside Salt Lake City to a bench northeast of the city near where the city cemetery lay and hanged. Before he was executed he made quite a lengthy speech to the crowd gathered for the execution. In his speech he mentioned very little about the killing of Carpenter and never did confess his guilt of the crime. He was quite bitter in his statements about Judge Sinclair, who had sentenced him to hang, and made the charge that the Judge was drunk when the sentence was pronounced. He reflected that he had been treated well by everyone in Utah and only blamed the governor for not commuting his sentence to life imprisonment.

In order to get a more complete picture of early Utah justice and incidents related to it, is necessary to realize the attitude of the people of the Territory towards attorneys and the territorial courts of justice.
In 1850 the Mormons were in Utah Territory in an overwhelming majority and controlled practically every political office. The relatively few non-Mormons of the Territory seemed resigned to the fairness of this practice as long as justice, peace and honest government prevailed. The non-Mormons did not like the polygamy practice, and if they resorted to prostitution, the Mormons would not tolerate it; but with these few exceptions, there was complete peace among Mormons and non-Mormons prior to the territorial form of government.
With the advent of territorial government there was a loss of much self government in Utah. In 1850 the State of Deseret had petitioned the U.S. Congress to become a territory or a state, and on September 9, 1850, the Organic Act was passed creating the Territory of Utah. The leaders of the people realized that with a territorial form of government they would loose certain rights of self-government, and on September 11, 1850, they petitioned to remain as they were until ready for statehood. This petition, however, was made too late, and the territorial form of government became effective and was to remain in effect for forty-six years. The Organic Act created the Territory of Utah to supersede the State of Deseret. The judicial power was invested in a Supreme Court, District Courts, Probate Courts and Justice of the Peace. The higher offices were filled by appointment made from Washington and the minor ones were filled in accordance with Territorial law. Many outsiders who had never been west of the Mississippi now received government jobs in Utah. Men receiving these appointments to Utah Territory were as a rule very unfamiliar and often unfriendly with the customs and traditions of the Mormons, who constituted most of the population.
The Mormons had suffered much at the hands of disreputable lawyers, and unjust judges before leaving Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, and had a widespread distrust of them. In February 1852, an act was passed by the legislature Assembly for the regulation of attorneys, and in the act it emphasized the disrepute surrounding men in this profession. The act further mentioned that no legal training or experience was needed to prosecute or defend a case. The only thing required was that they be of good moral character. Indecent or abusive language was punishable by fine or disbarment. The attorneys were required to present all the facts in a case, regardless of how it might affect the status of his client, so that the true nature of the case might be presented before the court. If the attorney failed to present all facts in the case and it could be proven that he was withholding information, he was subject to fine.
The leaders of the Mormon Church felt that going to court to settle differences between church members in good standing was not needful. They encouraged members to settle difficulties through the Bishop's Court or the High Council Courts. Brigham Young not only advised the Mormons not to take their differences to the courts, but he said that they should never go there except as a witness or unless they were compelled. During the early days of Utah Territory it was almost impossible for one of the members of the church to study or practice law. George A. Smith, in a sermon on January 3, 1958, had this to say about the study of law by Mormons: 
ìNow, from the early history of this church, almost every Elder, or member that has undertaken to study or practice law was in a very short time on the high road to apostasy and destruction; and every member of this church, who has undertaken to practice law as a profession, has gone neck-and-heels to the Devil.î
Governor Young often boasted of the achievement of the Legislative and Executive branches of the territorial government, but he referred to the territorial courts with pride only when they were inactive. The technical points of the law that often freed guilty criminals through the skill of a smart lawyer greatly annoyed him, and he attacked the practices of the lawyers of the courts, especially for their use of litigation. If a man committed a crime, Governor Young believed that all the facts should be presented in the case and justice rendered according to the severity of the crime. It is plain to see from Governor Young's attitude towards courts and criminals why non-Mormons preferred the territorial courts to the ecclesiastical courts of the Mormons. They were often able to get lighter sentences or even gain freedom in territorial courts even when guilty, through the litigation of smart lawyers.

Bad Start for Federal Judges

The early Federal Judges to Utah Territory got off to a bad start, and soon practically ostracized themselves from the people. The main event causing the first friction between the people of the Territory and the Federal Judges occurred at a special conference of the Mormon Church in September 1851. Brigham Young, in a sermon to the people attending the conference, mentioned the wrongs committed against the Mormons that were allowed to go unpunished by the United States, prior to their coming to Utah. Judge Brocchus, evidently interpreting the talk as being unpatriotic, asked Brigham Young for the opportunity to address the conference attendees. The Judge was granted the privilege of speaking and proceeded at length to pose as a defender of the United States. He also made remarks to the women present to the effect that those living in polygamy were unvirtuous. Following Brocchus's speech Brigham Young took issue with him over statements he had made. The incident had its repercussions in that the Mormons never did like Judge Brocchus. He was never molested by them but socially ostracized until he left the Territory. New judges came after Brocchus left, but with few exceptions they hated Brigham Young and the Mormons and sought in many ways to discredit them in Washington.
In 1856 Judge Drummond sought to belittle the judicial setup in Utah. He complained of the Probate Courts having too much power and said he would refuse to recognize their findings in cases that he did not regard as strictly in their jurisdiction. Drummond also spoke openly against the Mormon leaders and the practice of polygamy. Polygamy had been attacked before by others, but when it was discovered that the Judge had left a wife and family in Illinois, and the woman with him passing as his wife was a common prostitute, he was soon despised by everyone in the Territory.

Territory Disturbed

In 1856 the whole Territory of Utah was disturbed over the actions of the judges of the various courts. Judge Stiles was excommunicated from the Mormon Church for adultery. Judge Drummond was still seeking to belittle the Mormons and their leaders, and Judge Snow partially sided with him in his views. Justice in general suffered in the face of the bickering between jurors, lawyers and judges. In a church service in February 1856, Brigham Young decried this poor state of affairs. His remarks on this subject were recorded in the diary of Samuel W. Richards as follows:
"Dr. Hovey preached and was followed by President B. Young, who was very severe in his remarks upon the proceedings in court (District Court) during the past week ó the conduct of the lawyers ó the folly of jurors etc. I never heard him speak upon such matters when he appeared so stirred up and righteously indignant in his feelings. He made Judge Z. Snow most conspicuous before the meeting, and cursed such men most severely, in relation to themselves, their wives, and their children, and their substances. And all the saints said, amen....
Judge Drummond left Utah Territory in March 1857 and wrote his letter of resignation to U.S. Attorney General Black. The letter reveals the nature of the charges against Brigham Young and the Mormons and is exemplary of rumors and falsehoods that started coming out of Utah Territory after the date of the first Federal appointees arrival in Utah Territory. In part, the letter read as follows:
"that after Moroni Green had been convicted in the District Court before my colleagues, Judge Kinney, of an assault with intent to commit murder, and afterwards on appeal to the Supreme Court, the judgment being affirmed and the said Green being sentenced to the penitentiary; also, that the said Governor Young pardoned a man by the name of Baker, who had been tried and sentenced to ten years imprisonment in the penitentiary, for the murder of a dumb boy by the name of White House, the proof showing one of the most aggravated cases of murder that I ever knew being tried; and to insult the Court and Government officers, this man Young took this pardoned criminal with him, in proper person to church on the next Sabbath after his conviction: Baker, in the meantime, having received a full pardon from Governor Young. These two men were Mormons. On the other hand, I charge the Mormons, and Governor Young in particular, with imprisoning five or six young men from Missouri, and Iowa, who are now in the penitentiary of Utah, without those men having violated any criminal law in America. But they were anti-Mormons ó poor, uneducated young men in route for California; but because they emigrated from Illinois, Iowa, or Missouri, and passed by Great Salt Lake City, they were indicted by a Probate Court, and most brutally and inhumanely dealt with, in addition to being summarily incarcerated in the saintly prison of the Territory of Utah. I also charge Governor Young with constantly interfering with the Federal Courts, and after the judges charge the grand juries as to their duties, that this man Young invariably has some member of the grand jury advised in advance as to his will in relation to their labors, and his charge thus given is the only charge known, obeyed, or received by all the grand juries of the Federal Courts of Utah Territory."

Denunciation of Mormons

Drummond was very bitter in his denunciation of the Mormons and their leaders in his letter to Washington. He also recommended other changes. Perhaps the most interesting change he recommended was that a non-Mormon governor with military aid be sent to Utah Territory.
An answer to the charges made by Judge Drummond was made in an official communication from Curtis E. Bolton, Esquire, Deputy Clerk of the United States Supreme Court of Utah. The charges were proven false, but before the official communication was received in Washington much damage was done. "The contents of Bolton's communication reveals the true state of affairs in Utah at that time, and refutes Drummond's charge that there was much injustice in the courts of Utah Territory due to the interference of the Mormons and their leaders. The letter, in part, reads as follows:
"Again in the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Moroni Green, which decision was written by Judge Drummond himself, I find the following words; 'that as the case, for which Green was convicted, seems to have been an aggravated one, this court does remit the costs of the prosecution, both in this court and in the court below,' Green was provoked to draw a pistol in self-defense. But did not point it at anyone. He was a lad of 18 years old. Much feeling was excited in his favor, and he as finally pardoned by the Governor. Upon a petition signed by the Judges and officers of the United States Courts, the honorable secretary of the state, and many of the influential citizens of Great Salt Lake City. Again: in relation to the incarceration of five or six young men from Missouri and Iowa, who are now, March 30, 1857, in the penitentiary of Utah, without those men having violated any criminal law in America, etc. This statement is utterly false.
"I presume he alludes to the incarceration, on the 22nd of January, 1856, of three men, and on the 29th of January, 1856, of one more; if so these are the circumstances:
"There were quite a number of persons came here as teamsters in Gilbert and Gerush's train of goods, arriving here in December, 1853, after winter had set in. They arrived here very destitute; and at that season of the year there is nothing a laboring man can get to do. Some various times in the night, these men entered the store of S. M. Blair and Company, and stole provisions, groceries, etc. Some six or eight were indicted for burglary and larceny. Three plead guilty, and a fourth was proven guilty; and the four were sentenced to the penitentiary for the shortest time the statute allowed for the crime; and just as soon as the spring of 1856 opened, and a Company was preparing to start for California, upon a petition setting forth mitigating circumstances, the governor pardoned them, and they went on their way to California. It was a matter well understood here at the time, that these men were incarcerated more particularly to keep them from committing further crime during the winter.
"Since that time there have been four persons sentenced to the penitentiary, one for forgery and three for petty larceny, for terms of sixty and thirty days, to wit; one on the 19th, November, 1856, for larceny, thirty days; two on the 24th November, 1856, for aggravated larceny, sixty days; and one on the 26th January, 1857 (the date of W. W. Drummond's letter), there was not a white prisoner in the Utah Penitentiary; nor had been for several days previous, nor is there at this present writing. Three Indians in prison at this time were those convicted for having taken part in Captain Gunnison and parties massacre."
After Drummond left Utah Territory, it was hoped that men of higher character would then be appointed, but the new judges were little better than the others before them. Two of the most undesirable judges during the period following Drummond's resignation were Sinclair and Cradlebough. Sinclair was a man that was often seen drunk and commanded but little respect from the people of the Territory. Cradlebough was an enemy of the Mormons and strongly suspected them guilty of the Mountain Meadow Massacre affair that occurred in September, 1857. He, along with Sinclair, exercised powers beyond proper jurisdiction and soon a judiciary and executive controversy developed in the Territory. Cradlebough requested the presence of several companies of Johnson's army while holding court in Provo, and was supplied with them. Governor Cummings visited Provo at this time and saw no need for the army there and requested that the troops be removed. The Governor's request was ignored, whereupon he wrote Washington officials about the affair. U.S. Attorney General Black wrote the judges requesting them to stay strictly within their own official spheres. The incident of the letter greatly helped reduce the power of the judges in their attempts to subject the Mormons to further indignities.
With the leaders of the Mormon church requesting their members to stay out of territorial courts with their grievances, and at the same time condemning court practices, it is easy to see why friction developed between a Mormon and a non-Mormon, the Mormon would want the case settled before a Bishop's court. On the other hand the non-Mormon naturally preferred the territorial court. In the end the territorial courts won out, but in difficulties among themselves the Mormons continued using the Bishop's Court.
The early federally appointed judges presiding over the district courts in Utah Territory were rarely men of high and noble character. They were largely responsible for the distrust of Utah's self-governing ability by the United States Government. By misrepresenting affairs in Utah to Washington, they contributed in part to the delay of statehood for Utah until 1896.

PRISON SITES AND PRISONS

There was no real need for a penitentiary in the Great Basin area during the first few years after Mormons settled there. The population increased rapidly after gold was discovered in California, bringing much lawlessness into the area. By 1850 a penitentiary was needed in the Territory.
The same act of Congress providing for the organization of a Territory of Utah on September 9, 1850, also carried an appropriation for the erection of public buildings, including a territorial prison. But for the same reason no further mention was made by the U.S. Congress relative to the construction of the prison in succeeding messages to the Territorial Government in Utah during the next year. Evidently the United States Congress felt that the Territory, due to its infancy and remote location, did not need a penitentiary at this time, but the Legislature of the Territory, felt differently. It had been promised an appropriation for a prison and had no intention of letting the matter drop as was indicated by a message to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in the first annual session held in the Territory of Utah, September 22, 1851, at Salt Lake City.
"To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress Assembled.
"Your Memorialists, the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, would respectively suggest to your honorable body, the necessity of a suitable building for a territorial prison in this Territory. In doing this, we would respectfully suggest to your honorable body, though our locality is quite remote from the exercise of Judicial authority in other states or territories, still we are not beyond the pale of frequent and multiplied crimes and offenses, which demand the retribution of imprisonment. The expense of building a safe prison, sufficiently large to meet the liabilities of convicted criminals in this Territory is greater than a distant observer might readily apprehend.
"This more than ordinary expense arises both from the multiplication of criminals thrown into the Territory by a transient and wayfaring population, as well as our own. The early erection of a substantial prison it is believed would not only tend to prevent crime, but also to reform the offenders and put them in the way of self support. The infancy of the Territory renders the erection of such a prison, at present, without the aid of Congress, too great a work for the finances of your memorialists.
"Your Memorialists therefore respectfully pray your honorable body, to appropriate the sum of sixty thousand dollars for the speedy erection of a Territorial Prison for Utah Territory; and your Memorialists, as in duty bound will pray."
On March 3, 1853, the United States Congress approved an appropriation for the building of a penitentiary in the Utah Territory. First, a suitable site was to be purchased and a prison was to be built to care for any and all needs of convicts within the Utah Territory. Instead of Congress appropriating sixty thousand dollars for a good penitentiary as was requested by the Legislative Assembly, it granted only twenty thousand dollars for the entire cost of purchasing a piece of property and constructing a penitentiary.
Mr. A. W. Babbitt, Secretary of the Treasury for Utah Territory, was entrusted with the task of locating a piece of land suitable for the building of a penitentiary. Many places were considered, but apparently no desirable place within the Salt Lake City area could be purchased for the location of a prison. Seven months after authority was given A. W. Babbitt to select a prison site, a place was finally chosen. The site selected was located in what was then known as the Big Field Survey, ten acre plot, Block 27, Lot 10- 11, Great Salt Lake County.

Prison Site Chosen

The survey was made under the provisional laws of the State of Deseret. And by its surveyor the property was duly recorded. The boundaries of the site designated were not at this time defined, and as late as 1878, were still not defined. However, the land possessed was that portion of Lots 10-1 1 in Block 27, that lay north and east of an irrigating canal crossing that area. The canal was never enclosed within the walls of the prison, as required by law to make the claim valid under the then existing local laws, but no legal action contesting this point was ever instituted. The site selected for building the first penitentiary for the Utah Territory happened to be located on government land. Since there were no squatters or other valid claims to the site, there was no necessity for purchasing the property.
After obtaining a prison site, the agent, Mr. Babbitt advertised for sealed bids for the erection of the penitentiary. He, of course, furnished the plan for the building and specifications as to construction. In due time a number of proposals came in to Mr. Babbitt, but each was for a larger amount than the United States Congress had appropriated; consequently none were accepted. Two building companies, Little and Young, and Rockwood and Kelton, submitted proposals which seemed to be good to Mr. Babbitt, but they still were too high so their bids were also not accepted.
Seeing that no one was willing to contract such a building with the existing specifications for the sum of twenty thousand dollars, Mr. Babbitt wrote the Secretary of the Interior, Robert Cleveland, of his problem and gave him details of what had taken place. Secretary Cleveland then instructed Mr. Babbitt to advertise again for bids, but to omit mentioning the number of cells, or the size of the penitentiary to be built. The builders were advised to submit their bids to Mr. Babbitt stating how many cells they would construct and the size of prison house they would build, and other specifications with which they would comply. One would gather from this that regardless of the fact that twenty thousand dollars was not enough to build a good prison, a prison of some kind was to be built anyway.
Msrs. Little and Young, also Rockwood and Kelton, again submitted their proposals for building a penitentiary, and Mr. Babbitt was of the opinion that the bid submitted by Little and Young was the better. He wrote again to the Secretary of the Interior submitting the bids of Rockwood and Kelton and Little and Young. Secretary Cleveland then instructed Mr. Babbitt to accept the bid of Rockwood and Kelton. By this time Rockwood and Kelton were tired of the dawdling of Mr. Babbitt and the Secretary of the Interior and politely declined the offer. The contract was then awarded to Little and Young, who accordingly filed the same acceptably, and in due time it was received by Mr. Babbitt.

Construction Begins

At last the construction of the territorial prison got under way. A house for the warden was built and on the site along with a prison house, workshops, and an outer court. The walls of the outer court were built of adobe, twelve feet high, and four feet thick. The walls, enclosing about seven acres, were built upon a foundation of rock laid in lime mortar. On top of the wall was a walk made of lumber, with wooden hand railings on each side. There were four watch towers at each corner of the walls. The workshop and prison house were made of the same materials as the walls, with the exception of the cells located under the prison house. There were sixteen cells made of iron bars placed in excavated holes. The cell doors were made of plank, covered with sheet iron. Needless to say, these cells were poorly ventilated and undesirable even to prisoners of those days. The warden's house was the only comfortable place within the enclosures of this first prison constructed in Utah Territory.
Late in the year of 1854 the prison was completed, and in January, 1855, Mr. Babbitt reported it to the Legislative Assembly as ready to be delivered to a proper officer of the Territorial Government of Utah.
The twenty thousand dollars originally planned to be spent for the construction of the entire prison property was depleted before the prison's structure was completed, and an additional twelve thousand was appropriated. The Legislative Assembly appealed for fifteen thousand dollars and had received only twelve, and this brought the total appropriation for the prison to thirty-two thousand dollars.

Prison Completed

In December, 1855, the Legislative Assembly and Governor Brigham Young met at Fillmore City in the fifth annual session. One of the main topics for discussion was the need for twelve thousand dollars to complete the Territorial prison in Salt Lake City. They felt that the thirty-two thousand dollars already expended for erection of the prison had been honestly and wisely used by the superintendent of the project. It was felt that the walls and outer buildings connected with the walls needed to be rebuilt out of better material than adobe. This additional money requested by the Legislative Assembly to complete the prison was never granted by the U.S. Congress.
In 1857 the workshop in the inner court was burned down, and to make matters worse, a portion of the prison house was blown down in a rain storm in 1858. Other parts of the prison were also damaged in the storm, and this along with the ill treatment of prison property by the prisoners had the structure in a very dilapidated condition by 1860. Many prisoners, both United States and Territorial escaped from time to time from the penitentiary due to the lack of proper facilities. With the coming of the U.S. Army to Utah Territory in 1858, the Territorial Government did not receive any financial aid from the U.S. Congress to repair the penitentiary. Nor is there any record of an application for an appropriation again before 1862. An adequate penitentiary was needed as never before because of increased crime, but the prison was in a very dilapidated condition. The old prison seemed destined to remain in this condition since the United States Government would not appropriate money to repair it, and the Territorial Government did not have the finances.
In 1863 the Territorial Legislature finally appropriated five thousand dollars from the Territorial Treasury for the purpose of repairing the Utah Penitentiary. One thousand dollars went to pay the full salary of the warden for that year, and part was spent to rebuild the workshop that had burned in 1857. The remainder of the money was used in repairs on the walls and prison house.
Up to the year 1864 there had been seventy-five prisoners admitted or committed to the prison of which only seventeen served out their sentences. Many had escaped due to lax prison guards and inadequate prison facilities. Many of the prisoners who were supposed to have been in the Utah Penitentiary prowled the streets of Salt Lake City, stealing and committing other depredations. The officer in charge at the prison was censured, but he was exonerated to a great extent due to the dilapidated prison condition. In 1864 the Legislative Assembly in Utah Territory sent an ironic but sad plea to the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. relative to appropriations for the penitentiary in Utah:
"That where as, owing to an extensive and variety of complicated circumstances (many of which are unavoidable) we find the Penitentiary in its present condition to be almost totally unfit for the purposes for which it is designed; first, from its dilapidated condition in general; 2nd, the decay of its walls, the unsafe and unhealthy conditions of the cells, the deficiency of suitable locks and fastenings, sufficiently provided for, thereby characterizing this prison in distinction from all other prisons in the world. The means heretofore appropriated have proved to be greatly insufficient for the completion of the building according to its very economical design, and the means thus appropriated having along since been exhausted, is justly a subject of complaint. It endangers the security of the prisoners, and increases the expense of the guard."
The U.S. Government did nothing to help the Territorial Government make the prison safe for prisoners, and during the period of time from 1864 to 1871, the prison remained in poor condition. The sleeping cells built underground proved very unhealthy, especially in the warm season of the year. With no money to keep up the prison as were to be appropriated by the United States Government for the keep of the United States Government convicts and with very little money from the Territory, there was not sufficient funds to pay a night guard, consequently prisoners escaped that otherwise could have been secured. Despite this, the Territorial Legislature tried with little success to devise means for providing more wholesome sleeping quarters. In January, 1867, in the sixteenth annual session of the Legislative Assembly, an appeal for twenty thousand dollars to repair the old penitentiary was made.
The Legislative Assembly by 1870 had seemingly exhausted efforts to obtain funds to repair the old prison and planned the construction of a new territorial prison. Discussions included plans for a new penitentiary site on one of the islands of Great Salt Lake. An island in the middle of Salt Lake was thought to be an ideal location for a prison. Surrounded by water, it would be hard to escape from the prison. The salt industry and rock quarries offered excellent facilities for convict labor and, properly developed, would have greatly aided in the upkeep and support of the convicts. This idea of a penitentiary on one of the islands in Great Salt Lake, was not new since Church Island, located in Great Salt Lake, had been used before for keeping at least one prisoner there. One night in 1862 a grave digger, Jean Baptiste, was caught robbing a grave in Salt Lake City. His sentence was very unusual. He was branded and shackled and put on Church Island as a solitary prisoner. He later disappeared from the island and was never heard from again. Many people wondered what had happened to Jean Baptiste, but the mystery remained hidden for many years. A number of years later a skeleton was exhumed by the mouth of a stream following the shores of Church Island, and it still had a fetter and a link of chain on it. It was decided that this was the remains of Jean Baptiste, the grave robber. He had met his death by drowning. Whether he had committed suicide by drowning himself in his loneliness, or whether he attempted to escape from the island and was accidentally drowned was never known.

From 1855, when the prison was delivered to the Legislature for the keeping of convicts, to 1871, the Territorial Government of Utah maintained the penitentiary for the purpose of keeping its prisoners. The prison was referred to as Utah Penitentiary during that period. With the coming of 1871, the Congress of the United States passed an act, the provisions of which were to turn the penitentiaries that were the property of the United States over to the United States Marshals in the territories where said penitentiaries were located.

Penitentiary Turned Over to U.S. Marshal In 1871 Albert P. Rockwood was the Territorial Warden of Utah Penitentiary and in compliance with the act of Congress passed in January of the year, he turned over the penitentiary to United States Marshal Patrick. Utah Penitentiary was then located upon the foothills of southeast Salt Lake City and had been jointly erected by Utah Territory and the United States. It was held to be jointly owned, but most of the appropriations for building the prison had come from the United States, with the exceptions of a workshop, some repairs, and salaries which had been paid from the Territorial Treasury from time to time. At first Albert P. Rockwood was very reluctant to turn over the prison to the Marshal, but finally he did release it to him after claiming certain properties as belonging to the Territory of Utah.
Marshal Patrick was given authority to take charge of all United States prisoners who were serving in the Utah Penitentiary. In addition he had been given permission to contract with the proper authorities in the Territory of Utah for the board and care of the Territorial convicts. Soon after the delivery of the Penitentiary to the United States Marshal, in 1871, Warden Rockwood proffered to contract with the Marshal for the keeping and carrying out the sentences of the Territorial prisoners left in his custody. Marshal Patrick said that he would keep the prisoners for a dollar and a half a day, but Warden Rockwood refused to turn them over to Patrick, for Rockwood felt that Patrick was asking too much money. Warden Rockwood did not make a contract with the U.S. Marshal and decided to keep the prisoners. He felt that they could be kept for less than half the amount Marshal Patrick was charging.
With the United States Marshal in charge of the penitentiary, the Territorial government realized that some other provisions had to be made to keep their prisoners. Warden Rockwood was instructed to make the necessary arrangements with the authorities of Salt Lake County for the use of the county jail to keep the convicts, but the plan did not please the county officials. Warden Rockwood then was given the signal to find some other suitable place to house the convicts until something more desirable could be arranged. It was then decided by the Legislative Assembly to appropriate five thousand dollars annually, or enough money necessary to keep and feed the convicts. Money was also appropriated for the purchase of six steel cells to safeguard the convicts. At the same time there was again talk of the Territory building a new penitentiary, and again one of the area proposed for a prison site was Church Island in Great Salt Lake.
Despite all proposals to build a new prison, one was not built at that time; instead prisoners were committed to Warden Rockwood who rented buildings in which the prisoners were kept, when they were not working away from Salt Lake City.

Known as Utah Penitentiary

The name of the penitentiary from 1855, when it was completed for use, till 1871, when it was taken over by the U.S. Marshal, was Utah Penitentiary. When this property was taken over by the United States Marshal, it then became known by law, as the United States Penitentiary and kept this name until 1896, at which time all the prison property was turned over to Utah, which became a new state after existing as Utah Territory for forty-six years.
At that time the territorial prisoners were moved from place to place, wherever there was a suitable job of mining, quarrying, or any other laboring jobs convicts could do. Warden Rockwood moved the prisoners to many places, working on many jobs, but none of them ever escaped, due to the unique system he had of transporting the convicts from place to place in portable iron cells. These iron cells were made of bars of iron about a half inch in diameter, riveted the cross bars standing about twelve inches apart. The space between the iron bars on the ends, top and bottom was only about two inches. Entrance to the iron cell was through a small door in the center of one end of the cell. The door to the cell was made of the same kind of iron and was secured with two locks. The cells weighed about 1300 pounds and cost about two hundred dollars each. The cells were six and half feet wide, seven feet long, and eight feet high. Two portable wooden bunks were in each cell and there was sufficient room to lodge two convicts in each unit. These iron portable cells were particularly designed to be used outside the prison wall, when the convicts were moved from one job to another. In warm and pleasant weather the cells were usually kept in a large tent, with a guard always on duty. When late fall and winter weather came, and until warm spring weather came again, the convicts were placed in the cells inside suitable buildings. The cells were considered to be quite secure, were well ventilated, were easily kept clean and could be moved to and at the pleasure of the warden in charge. These iron cells were used first by the Territorial Warden and later were adopted by the United States Penitentiary in Salt Lake City. Several of the county jails in Utah Territory later adopted and used these iron cells too.

Equipment for Penitentiary

In 1877 United States Marshal Nelson was in charge of the United States Penitentiary in Utah Territory, and Warden Rockwood was still the Territorial Warden. Warden Rockwood had no prisoners in his custody at that time, and Marshal Nelson requested the loan of the iron cells and some other property being held by Rockwood as property of the Territorial government of Utah. Since the property requested to be loaned was for the safekeeping of public safety, Mr. Rockwood made the loan, after receiving clearance from the auditor of Public Documents in the Territorial Government. A copy of the receipt from Marshal Nelson to Albert P. Rockwood is interesting because if reveals some of the equipment used in prisons of Utah Territory during the time Utah Penitentiary was in the hands of the United States Marshals:
Salt Lake City, November 3rd, 1877ó Received as a loan of A. P. Rockwood, for the security or use of the convicts committed to the United States Penitentiary, the following named articles, to wit, five iron cells, one black dilto, three shackles, each with chain and slug, and two iron wheelbarrows, they being the property of the Territorial government of Utah, in the custody of said Rockwood and subject to the direction of the Legislative Assembly of said Territory: all said articles I agree to return to him on ten daysí notice, at any point he may designate within one mile of Salt Lake County Court House.

William Nelson, U.S. Marshal

In 1883, with the United States Penitentiary at Salt Lake City still in the hands of the United States Marshal, the prison was in a very dilapidated and undesirable condition. It looked only slightly different than it did when first put into use in 1855. It consisted of a rectangular mud wall enclosure. The walls were now nineteen feet high with guard towers at each corner. The enclosure contained several acres of land and inside were three houses with slanting wooden roofs. One of the houses was a low log structure that looked something like a cow barn, and this building served the double purpose of a dining room and meeting hall. The two cell houses were made of adobe and stones. The beds in the cell houses were bunks arranged along the walls, one above another, three high. The cell houses consisted of one large room each, and beds were all in the single room of each cell house. New inmates not accustomed to snoring did little sleeping until they became used to this annoying prison feature. The prisoners were locked in these cell houses each night and let out each morning at breakfast time. During the day prisoners could wander anywhere within the walls, but they could not, without permission, cross "he dead line", located in front of a pair of heavy iron and wooden gates, the only means of egress from the prison. There was still a wooden walk on top of the walls and guards patrolled these and could see all that was going on within the walls from sentry boxes at the corners of the wall. In one corner of the enclosure was an iron cage called "the sweat box," where convicts who continually gave trouble to the guards were placed. The warden's house was just outside the gates to the wall and was virtually a part of the high mud wall. Female prisoners were kept in the warden's house at this time. Also just outside the walls of the prison was another building containing a kitchen, a storeroom and a reception room where inmates could receive visitors on certain days.

Poor Water System

The water system for the prison was much like the rest of the prisonóvery poor. Water was carried in buckets from Parley's Creek which flowed just outside the south wall of the penitentiary. A story is told about the prison water system in 1833 that seems to bear out the fact that the water was often muddy and unfit to drink.
A newcomer to the prison was sitting at the mess table with his ration of water before him; he reached out across the next man's plate for the pepper and salt. Not being permitted to converse with one another in the dining room, he whispered to his dinner mate; "this here soup needs a little seasoning." Another prisoner elbowed him and muttered out the corner of his mouth; "The soup ain't up yet. Ain't as dark as that. That's yer water."
It was after 1855, however, before the water system of the prison was made more modern. It was in 1896 that Warden Dow was instrumental in having a 9,600 ft. pipe installed from Parley's Canyon to an 80,000 gallon reservoir. This greatly helped the quality of drinking water at the prison as well as aiding the irrigated crops on the prison farm.
There is no record of there being a Territorial warden after 1878, and it is assumed that the Territorial prisoners were kept in the city and county jails when possible to do so. Some of the more desperate criminals probably were housed in the United States Penitentiary, because in 1894 the United States Government requested payment from the Territorial Government for the upkeep of Territorial prisoners in the United States Penitentiary in Salt Lake City.
In 1885, the United States Government at last decided to improve the United States Penitentiary at Salt Lake City, with money appropriated by Congress, the government contracted to erect a stone wall around the prison and in 1890 completed it. Number two cell house was built in 1885 to replace the old cell houses of adobe and logs. When number two cell house was completed, it was much better than the adobe houses but was poorly ventilated. There was still no individual water system as was installed later in the number one cell house, and night buckets were used for personal service. The cells were constructed of steel and were the first of their kind to be so constructed in a cell house in Utah. On the front of the cells was a heavy lattice, steel barred door that obstructed the view of prisoners looking out, but the prison was gradually being improved.

Territory Becomes State

The Territory of Utah became the State of Utah January 4, 1896, and three days later all federal supervision at the prison was discontinued. Heber M. Wells, the first Governor of the State of Utah, appointed George N. Dow as the warden of Utah State Prison. Warden Dow took over his new duties January 7, 1896. The newly acquired property consisted of the administration building, the central structure which still stands, (as of 1952) and number two cell house, with capacity of 500 prisoners. All of this was surrounded by a stone wall nineteen feet in height. Also included in the property were one hundred and eighty acres of land, purchased by the United States Government. (This is now the location of Sugar House Park.) Up to the time Utah became a state and inherited the prison property, the United States Government had expended three hundred thousand dollars upon the penitentiary.
During the period of time between 1904 and 1918 a number of important improvements came about within the walls of the prison, but perhaps the greatest improvement was the construction of a new and modern cell house. This cell house stood as the only modern one within the walls of the Utah State Prison and remained so until prisoners were moved from Utah State Prison, Sugarhouse, Utah, to the new prison at the Point Of the Mountain, nineteen miles south of Salt Lake City. The cell house that was built at that time was known as number one cell house. It was built entirely of steel, concrete, stone and brick. There were four floors, with two hundred cells in the house. They were arranged in tiers, with twenty-five on each side, making a total of fifty cells on each floor. The cells were each equipped with running water and individual wash basins. Each cell had a steel bed with a cotton mattress and woolen blankets, a steel folding chair, and electric lights. The doors to the cells could be operated individually or collectively as a tier. The cell doors were controlled from a lever box located on each floor at one end of the corridor. As long as a prisoner observed the rules of sanitation, he could decorate his cell and arrange pictures and accessories to his own taste.
The new number one cell house was built by Pauly Jail Construction Company, of St. Louis, Missouri, at a cost of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and by the end of 1918 the value of all the prison property had increased in value to over five hundred and seventy thousand dollars.
In the 1920's improvements were made in number two cell house. It had been built in 1885 and was lighted by candles and oil lamps, which were replaced by electric lights in 1924. With the lights and a sewer system for the entire prison and the guard cottages connected with the city sewer system, and number two cell house was more comfortable, though it still did not compare with number one cell house.
From time to time factory machinery of some kind was utilized by the prison to provide labor for the prisoners. As early as 1898 there were a number of factory machines which were operated profitably by convict labor in manufacturing various clothing items. In 1923 an overall factory was established and was operated successfully for ten years, until it was shut down by the Hawes-Cooper bill, which prohibited goods made by convicts from being sold on the public market. About the only industry that has survived till 1952, was the automobile license plate factory that was started in Utah State Prison at Sugarhouse in 1924.
 

HISTORY OF THE UTAH STATE PRISON
1850 to 1952
   Escapes from the Utah State Prison
The most annoying thing connected with being warden of a penitentiary was that of having a prisoner escape, and Albert P. Rockwood, the warden, had many problems with escapees. The territorial prison was made ready for reception of convicts in 1855, and by the end of 1863 seventy-five convicts had been committed to prison, of whom only seventeen served out their sentences. Eighteen convicts escaped, twelve of which were never recaptured. Three convicts were killed attempting to escape. Thirty-eight were also pardoned or released by the exercise of habeas corpus, much to the dissatisfaction of Warden Rockwood, who had the following to say about the practice:
"Thirty-eight were discharged by the unwarrantable and unjust exercise of habeas corpus and pardoning power, of the most enormous crimes known to our laws, whose vicious habits and unrestrained passions render life and property altogether unsafe. Hereby annihilating the certainty of punishment and making the juries and verdicts and the sentence of the courts a ridiculous burlesque and total nullity, and by the prejudicial, unjust and implacable exercise thereof by Federal, Judicial and Executive authority, the administrators of which they themselves were worthy of and justly entitled to the choice and occupancy of the most safe and secure berths within the prison wall.î
Escapes A Problem
Escapes from Utah Penitentiary were quite numerous, the number of escapes plus those killed attempting to escape between 1855 and 1878 averaged about twenty-five per cent of all prisoners committed to the penitentiary during this time.
Rockwoods experience with escaping convicts started in January, 1862, when he was first elected warden. There were only six convicts in the Utah Penitentiary at this time. One of these convicts, Delos Gibson, escaped May 24, 1862. He was captured near Fort Bridger the last of June. While being returned to Salt Lake City, Gibson attempted escape by swimming the Weber River and was shot and killed. His body was brought back to Salt Lake City and delivered to Warden Rockwood in July of 1862.
Two other convicts, Alfred Higgins and William Eccles also escaped in May, 1862. They were reported as having been in Utah County and were later seen in Idaho Territory. The convicts joined the emigrant company enroute to Oregon but went down to Brigham City, Utah, while waiting for the company to start. On their return to the emigrant camp, they boasted to the ferryman at Bear River that they were escaped convicts from Utah Penitentiary their way to Oregon. They told the ferryman to tell anyone who might pursue them to bring their "grave clothes" along, implying that they would die rather than allow themselves to be captured. The ferryman sent a notice to the Sheriff of Box Elder County telling of the whereabouts of the two fugitives. The sheriff immediately rounded up a posse, and after traveling all night, arrived at the emigrant camp the next morning about daybreak. Seeing the posse arrive in camp, the convicts attempted to flee to the mountains on horseback. They were pursued, and when close enough the sheriff requested that they surrender. They ignored the request and were shot and killed.
At the end of 1862, five convicts had escaped and three were returned to Utah Penitentiary dead.
Eccles, the fugitive killed in Idaho Territory, was a fellow always ready for a joke. One night when the rest of the prisoners were loudly saying their prayers, Eccles was heard to say:
"Oh Lord, now I lay me down
 to sleep;
I pray thee that Bumett the guard,  may soundly sleep.
 If I should get away before
 he wakes,
 May he never me overtake."

 No Guards At Night
In the winter of 1863 the prison was in a very dilapidated condition. Prison funds were insufficient to pay even a night guard, and the day guards locked the prisoners up and left them until the next morning.
During this period of time two convicts, Angelo and Dives, dug a hole from their cell through the wall into the inner court. Then they tore their blankets in strips and made a rope. By the aid of some small willow sticks they threw their rope over the wooden handrail on top of the wall and scaled the wall easily. They went into the city and broke into the County Court House and stole money from the sheriff's drawer and the city recorder's desk. They then returned to the prison, scaled the wall into the inner court and crawled through the hole back to their cells. They replaced the loose stones in the wall and were asleep in their bunks the next morning when the guards came. They went out on a number of trips to steal and prowl around before they were detected. A suspicious guard discovered their escape secrets two weeks before they had planned to escape for good. Immediately after the warden was notified of the discovery by the guard, he had the convicts put in irons and placed a guard over them night and day.
Thwarted in his escape attempt, Dives threatened revenge on the sheriff and his deputies, the Salt Lake City mayor, and the police force. In March, 1864 he made good his escape in a very clever way. Rockwood gave the details:
 "It was our custom at the close of the day for the two guards to conduct the convicts to their Cells and lock them up for the night. One of the guards were armed and stood at the door, while the other guard conducted them in. Dives came to the guard at the door and said he had forgotten to empty his night vessel. The guard let him pass out with the vessel, when as soon as he was outside he turned and slammed the door and locked it. Locking both guards on the inside. It was customary after locking up the prisoners for one of the guards to retire outside the inner court and the other remained in the inner court for the night guards. This was well known to Dives, and he went to the door and impersonated the guard by knocking for the turnkey to let him out. It being dark the turnkey could not discern that it was any other person but the guard, and opened the door, when Dives snatched the key, locked the door and made off taking the key with him. Thus he made good his escape."
Quite a few people were very much afraid of Dives because of his previous threats, and a reward was promptly announced for his capture dead or alive. A few weeks after his escape he was seen one day in Salt Lake City, and it was learned that he would return to the city that night. The policemen were cautioned to be sure that they attack the right man and to get in the first shot. Dives was shot and killed that night as he attempted to escape from the police. His body was delivered to the warden the next day.
 In 1865 two more convicts escaped to Utah County and stole two horses. They rode south to Millard County, about a hundred miles away and stole two more horses and headed in the direction of Nevada. About thirty miles from Pioche, Nevada Territory, they were overtaken by a posse from Millard County. They were commanded to surrender but failed to obey, and both men were shot and killed. After the escape incidents of 1864 and 1865, many convicts were placed in irons for their security as well as the safety of the guards.
Escapes from the penitentiary plagued Rockwood throughout his long period of service as warden. Perhaps 1869 was the worst year of Rockwoods administration, because eleven prisoners escaped and two were killed attempting to escape.

Problems With Military Prisoners
On one occasion six United States convicts were committed to Utah Penitentiary for offenses against the United States. Several of the convicts were soldiers. On the second day after the six convicts had been committed to the penitentiary, a well dressed woman visited the prison and requested the privilege of having an interview with her husband, named McCoy, who was a soldier. Warden Rockwood inquired of the nature of the visit and then admitted her to the visiting room of the prison. He then sent a guard to get the woman's husband. The guard brought the convict into the visiting room and Warden Rockwood told him that it was a pleasure to present his wife for a short visit. The convict arose and warmly greeted the woman. After a short visit the woman thanked the warden and left. The next day when the warden was in Fort Douglas, Colonel Connor inquired of him about McCoy. Rockwood told him that the prisoner was happy because his wife had visited him the day before. Colonel Connor then told Rockwood that McCoy was not married and requested him to describe the woman to him. Finally it was established that the visitor was a woman of ill repute.
The next day the warden called McCoy into his office and asked him why he had deceived him into believing that the visiting woman was his wife. The prisoner, a non-Mormon, looked at Rockwood and replied, "Mr. Warden, you introduced her as my wife, and I understand that you Mormons have a way of marrying by proxy and I accepted the ceremony."
Other encounters with United States soldiers were less comical to Warden Rockwood. On several occasions a number of soldiers outside the prison walls attempted to free their friends from the penitentiary. Through the efforts of the unidentified soldiers outside the prison walls, two United States convicts escaped in 1863.
On April 29, 1863, a soldier named Gridly Plank, from Camp Douglas, shot at Warden Rockwood five times with a navy revolver. Fortunately none of the shots struck the warden. Rockwood arrested Gridly, bound and locked him in a cell in the penitentiary until the next day and then delivered him to the civil authorities. Judge Elias Smith committed Gridly for assault with intent to kill. Colonel Connor came and took the prisoner from the civil courts and said he would be given a military trial. Witnesses were never called to testify about the incident and Gridly went free. Such incidents as this insult only served to make feelings worse between territorial employees and United States Soldiers.

Wardens Office Terminated
  In 1875 Warden Rockwood had only two territorial convicts in his custody. Both of the prisoners  were in prison for twenty years for the crime of murder in the second degree. In 1877 Rockwood was directed by court order to take the two prisoners to the United States Penitentiary to serve cut their sentences. This left no convicts in the hands of Warden Rockwood, and evidently the office of Territorial Warden was terminated around 1878 because future territorial convicts were placed in the United States Penitentiary and their upkeep paid for from the Territorial Treasury.

Mormons Sentenced for Plural Marriage
From 1871 until 1896 the territorial prison, formerly known as Utah Penitentiary, was under jurisdiction of United States Marshal stationed in Utah Territory.
  During the 1880's many Mormons were sentenced to serve time in the United  States Penitentiary for participating in the religious belief of plural marriage. Rudger Clawson was the first church leader to be sentenced to prison for the charge of polygamy. He was sentenced to four years in prison and fined eight hundred dollars. During the 1880's upwards of a thousand men were sent to the United States Penitentiary for failure to discard their plural wives and families. Hundreds were driven into hiding and thousands were disfranchised. Women were also sent to prison for failure to testify against their husbands. The United States Government kept paid spotters and spies to report on Mormons guilty of living in polygamy. These were busy days at the United States Penitentiary and trying days for the Mormons.
Soon after the passage of the Edmunds Law in the spring of 1882, raids by the Marshals began in different parts of Utah Territory, causing much excitement. The Mormon men living the law of plural marriage were usually men of moral integrity and courage and were warned by the people of the community when the marshals were to serve them with a summons. They often hid themselves with the knowledge that if the marshal could not find them he could not serve them with a summons. Thus many raids were made at night. Raids on the Mormons' settlements were often conducted in the following manner:
"They would designate a certain number of the brethren that they desired to capture and three or four of whom would come into town during the night and lie in wait at the house of some traitor. The people reposing in peaceful slumber, not conscious of any danger being near, and perchance the husband and father being weary of camping out would have repaired home for a good nights rest to enjoy the society of their loved ones; When all was quiet during the small hours in the morning a loud rap would be heard at the door. The family would spring from their beds and in sudden tones whisper the word, "marshals." Perchance a louder and harsher knock would follow one and one of the family would ask, "who is there"? and they would say, "marshals, open the door or we will bunt it down," and if the father happened to be in the house he would meet them with a light at the door and admit them, and with cocked revolvers they would demand his surrender. Thus by demons in human shape he would be dragged away to some pretended court. In case the husband was not at home, the wife, with almost frantic fear, would admit them to the house and sometimes by threats and abusive language, she would be compelled to show them through the house, while children would nestle close together in their beds, being overcome with fright and anxiety for the safety of their father and protector.... Generally on such occasions the word of alarm would soon spread and lights would glitter in all parts of the town and perchance if the raid had been successful the news would soon be conveyed from house to house of the capture of some of the most respectful citizens. On such occasions excitement would generally run high and many would be the expressions of indignation, and were it not for wise council of more matured minds, many of these raids would have ended in a scene of blood, as it was hard to see fathers, relatives and friends taken away in such a manner."
Another method used by the marshals to get information on those living in polygamy was to dress like a miner or stockman and visit various houses making inquiries. If the marshals found certain men living the law of plural marriage, they served them with notices to appear in court. Papers were also served on those they desired to use as witnesses.

Edmunds Act to Abolish Polygamy
With the passing of the Edmunds Act, some men gave up plural marriages and abandoned their wives, much to the scorn of staunch Mormons. As a rule, men living in the law of plural marriage were honorable men who loved their families and rather than break the covenants they had made before God and forsake their families, they went to prison. Some older men who had married their wives many years before 1882 refused to leave their wives and were given from sixty days to eight years in the penitentiary. In some cases they were also charged heavy fines and court costs. The unfairness of the Federal Judges to Mormons found guilty of polygamy was recorded by Joseph Smith Black, who served three months in prison for plural marriage in 1889. As follows:
"In the case of a man by the name of Wright who committed a deliberate murder by shooting Soren Christensen at Deseret, while he was in his wagon with his wife and baby, blowing his brains out, bespattering the woman and child with brain and blood, he was only sentenced to one year's imprisonment. Pardon Dod of Units Valley in a drunken row killed a man, shot four balls into his body, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and through the kindness of Judge Judd has sentence suspended. Dr. Sharp of Sevier County, who had seduced two women, getting them both with child, was sentenced to thirty days. H. H. Wells of Provo Bench, who seduced his wife's sister while his wife was sick was given sixty days in the penitentiary. Evan Thomas, for committing a crime against nature with a mare, was sentenced to one year in prison. These were all non-mormons, while on the other hand, Mormons were sentenced as follows: Hans Hesperson, for marrying and taking care of his wife was given eight years in the penitentiary and costs. L. Larson of St. George for having two wives got two years. C. Anderson, the clerk and historian of Millard County got 17 months and costs for being the father of his wife's baby. B. Yates of Scipio and Paxton of Kanosh got ten months and costs each. There was ten Mormons from Millard County sentenced at this term of court, from 50 days to 17 months. Thus we can see the discrimination made between two classes of offenders."
 Prejudice was so strong against the Mormons that evidence and arguments for the defendants were not even considered. These unjust practices were hard to take by the Mormons. Many of them had donated money to aid the cause of their country during the Civil War. They now felt that they were being wronged by a Government that they had been taught always to respect and love.
All prisoners committed to the United States Penitentiary during the 1880's were required to abide by the established rules of the prison. When they entered the institution they were shaved of their beards and dressed in stripes. The men were hardly recognized by their own wives when visited and young children visiting the prison with their mothers often failed to recognize their fathers. This of course, caused many heartaches.
 Inmates were placed in cells five feet wide, seven feet high, and seven feet long. The cells were constructed three tiers high. There were not lights except candles. There were no bathroom facilities and night buckets called "dunnigans" were standard equipment in all cells. Inmates were allowed to walk in the yards, to read and to participate in other activities. They were also required to bathe once every two weeks and to wash before each meal. Letter writing was restricted to once a week. Mormons in prison held their religious services each Sunday. They formed a good choir and spent many hours together singing hymns.
Because of the monotony of prison fare, inmates showed little enthusiasm for meal time. Breakfast consisted of black coffee, boiled beef, gravy and bread. They received boiled beef and soup for dinner. For supper, mush and tea without sugar were served. A vegetable was served only once a week. Milk was not served with the meals but could be purchased for less than four cents a pint. Other foods were allowed the inmates if they could get someone on the outside to bring it to them. Metal knives and forks made good weapons so they were banned. In their place wooden knives and forks were used. Some forks made out of twisted wire were also used. Despite a lack of variety, the prisoners had plenty to eat but were allowed only eight to ten minutes for each meal.
After serving three months in the penitentiary for plural marriage, Joseph Smith Black was not satisfied with many of the penal practices of 1889. In his diary he offered his opinion on the need for certain reforms in the penitentiary, and in so doing he revealed many features of the penal system of that day.

"First I would abolish the sweat box as I consider it a barbarious means of torture, and behind in these enlightened days. I would punish willful offenders for violating the rules, but would do it in a humane manner. I would suppress profanity and smoking as they are both low and degrading. I would have a suitable building for a hospital with two compartments for different classes of criminals. I would move the out house to some more out of the way place, and not have it right at the main entrance of the building, and have it more private as so much exposure is likely to blunt the finer feelings which humanity should possess. There should be a large building suitably furnished for school purposes and all should be required to attend at least four hours daily. If suitable teachers could not be found among the convicts the government should employ them. Every able bodied man should labor at least four hours a day. They should earn their living and not be an expense to the government. Men should be employed so that they could not spend their time in idleness studying and learning more meanness and go out worse than they come in. The object of imprisonment should be reform. All officers should be removed that can look upon the sufferings of a human being without feelings of sorrow. In fact it should be the feeling of all to help to reform the unfortunate and make them feel that humanity is not a blank."

Penitentiary Over Populated
Before the 1890's the United States Penitentiary at Salt Lake City has become over populated, filled mostly with Mormons convicted on charges of polygamy. In 1886 over a hundred people were committed to the penitentiary for polygamy alone. The need for a larger and better prison for prisoners accommodations had been realized in 1885, and construction of a new prison began that year. Construction on the new prison continued until 1890, and when completed prisoner accommodation had been greatly expanded.
From 1855 until Utah became a state in 1896, the prison policies of the Territorial Government conflicted with that of United States Marshals appointed to Utah Territory. The conflict over these policies never really involved administrative methods but was simply an overflow into prison affairs from the general overall controversy existing between people of Utah Territory and Federal appointees. The controversy lasted until Utah achieved statehood in 1896.
 
 
 

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