The Terrors of Yuma Territorial Prison

think about bats and see they're all over the place it's just bats they're just bats I've lost the ability to feel they're gonna [ __ ] murder you alright so we're here Yuma Arizona for the famous Yuma prison famous yeah 3:10 to Yuma you never seen that film I've seen I've seen the picture yeah this prison housed a lot of famous outlaws from the the Old West it would get transported here on a train taken here somewhere they met their demise okay big date we see a lot of big kids do we hey stuff this week on BuzzFeed unsolved we investigate Yuma Territorial prison in Yuma Arizona as part of our ongoing investigation into the question are ghosts real this prison has seen its fair share of death despair and famous outlaws we're seasoned vets at this point when it comes to prisons huh we are we've been to several prisons but we haven't been to an Old West prison that's true a fun little a fun little way to mix it up there yeah a way to see ghouls behind bars that were good with a six-shooter cool let's get into it constructed in 1876 Yuma Territorial prison overlooks the Colorado River on a bluff a few miles away from the confluence of the Gila River and Colorado River over the course of its 33 years in operation 3069 prisoners 29 of whom were women were incarcerated in the prison the first seven prisoners actually built their own cells some of the most infamous Old Southwest outlaws were held in Yuma including buckskin Frank Leslie buckskin murdered his girlfriend while drunk and is remembered for being quote the only man who could compare to doc Holliday's blinding speed and accuracy with a six-gun and famous stagecoach bandit pearl heart was sentenced to five years at Yuma Territorial but was pardoned after serving only two years after allegedly using her feminine wiles on everyone from prison security to other prisoners Elena Estrada legendary for reportedly ripping her unfaithful partner's heart out and throwing it in his face was sentenced to serve seven years at Yuma as well that seems like a bit much I don't know if she tried to feed it to him she shoved it in his face mm-hmm which seems kind of like overkill at that point because I imagine I don't know how many seconds you have left to be alive after your heart is being ripped out unless you just really just eat it we're gonna go visit her prison cell whoa as well as a pearl heart okay she'll steal your heart let's go to that cell okay so if anybody is in here that would like to communicate with us perhaps pearl or maybe Elena feel free to do so you could you could make a noise you get throw a rock at us you could push us you could talk to us you could tear our hearts out I'd prefer you not Elena I mean I've said that before to various ghouls but you might take that down she's got some experience ah let's just go just get to it yeah every time this is a vessel for you to hop in to use this energy to talk to us and then we could just talk I just want to know if you're here though lovely home you got here it's quite nice I'm not hearing anything there's a lot of radio silence right now can you say the name of the prison rat I know you might be scared right now we are trespassing on your space I apologize for that we are professionals I turn this off for a second there's a guitar right there I imagine you like to play I saw pictures of you guys playing in here can you play us a song I love music look it pluck it right here's what we're gonna do we're gonna leave now Thank You ghosts descriptions of the conditions of the prison vary depending on who is telling the story the people of Yuma refer to the prison as the quote country club on the Colorado end quote resentful of the fact that the prison had better amenities than the majority of their homes amenities included forced ventilation electricity a sanitation system with three showers and two bathtubs a prison band in a 2000 book library the largest library in the territory at the time in fact Yuma Territorial prison was home to Yuma's only three flush toilets at the same time the prison was feared by inmates he was described as quote impossible to endure more impossible to escape and quote temperatures could reach a whopping 118 degrees in the summer and the prison was surrounded by desert quicksand and rivers over its 33 years in operation 112 prisoners died while incarcerated at Yuma Territorial prison though numbers vary it's reported that almost 50% of these prisoners died of tuberculosis one-third died of natural causes other than tuberculosis eight were shot while attempting to escape six killed themselves five were killed in work accidents two were murdered by another inmate and one was executed by Yuma County events in particular that may have residual hauntings include the 1887 gates riot that left four inmates dead and one wounded this is the the spot of the 1887 case riot four people died one was wounded and a one inmate during the riot stabbed the superintendent in the back of the neck and twisted the knife around and he lived still huh there was only a neck you think when that happens your face does a lot of like funny little like yeah is there anybody out here with us that would like to speak with us I know four of you lost your lives here during an event that was quite violent is there anybody that would like to make their presence known that has anything to say maybe some unfinished business a riot huh this is war I guess a majority of the conflict happened some of these prison did you hear that I did hear that yeah I know you're humoring me right now about humoring okay let's go let's go check it out hello who's there I was a pretty distinct footstep from over here was that a goal you're gonna kick me go by myself I know I'm coming up here huh hello where's that ghoul here it was curious did you hear it again what's going on with you you got the funny eyes huh hello all right we're gonna leave but once again we will be here all night just tonight because we are not locked up we're law-abiding citizens you know you're the way you shushed me was quite rude was it yeah yeah good night this missive one inmate thought to haunt the prison is a man named John Ryan around 1900 Ryan was imprisoned on charges of crimes against nature he reportedly committed suicide in cell 14 state historian Marshall Trimble says quote tour guides say they feel a cold chill when walking by the cell and quote the majority of those who see his apparition describe it as a light white glow where his body would be and shining eyes and say they also feel the air get noticeably colder so right now we're approaching John Ryan's cell this is actually other than the solitary cell the punishments out this is said to be the most active cell in this entire building or prison I should say okay it said that he was an outcast the prisoners did not like him the prison guards did not like him tough to be in prison and not have any friends all right John we're coming in we're we're entering it's quite hot in here and the air is just smells funny deathly still yeah just just imagine I mean we're uncomfortable when we've been in here what ten seconds can you imagine living in here this cell is said to be the place where John took his own life is this graffiti in the walls is this historical well that's a 1932 yeah that's a fat spider that's a chunky boy kind of unnerving anyways John if you'd like to communicate with us just show us a sign you could move something you can knock on the wall you could close this cell lock us in here with you rattle the door a bit if we got logged in here I'd be pissed off yet produce them it's very warm anything you want to say John I get it if you don't here's something talk to us did you hear something he's got the vision hello focus Ryan focus shut up here's what you shut up was that what was that I have there I've here strong years right now John I can hear everything I believe I just heard a voice is that you or am I just losing it what does it sound like what did it say it sounded like a boy I don't know what it said it was like a whisper whisper hi my name is John no it didn't whisper that maybe it was the spider the gift shop is also said to be a place of activity alrighty so right now we're in the gift shop and weirdly enough this is actually one of the most active places in this entire prison for ghosts or people both okay people perusing and people in jail and people in jail and they say sometimes things just fall off the shelves and you know this is kind of it like not that impressive to you like this falls off maybe there's like an earthquake whatever sure but if there's something like this on here yeah and it comes off that which they say has happened a couple times yeah what do you think about that that's good if something's falling off one of these it's also highly likely that one of them you know is on the edge or something and false you know they're not I don't know I'm not sure of a stretch I mean again it's less of a stretch than the dead walking the earth I don't know about that I feel this is like a lot I mean look at that's fine I know it goes up you know I know okay well if there's anything in this gift shop could you knock something off we won't get angry we just want to see it can you move one of these things off of of these I don't know what would you call this I don't have were hanging receptacle there's got to be a better word for it than that that's not our fault what about this grow a girlfriend is it just like an add water situation yeah I think so I don't think it grows and do it well they also have grow a boyfriend and a therapist this is a dark section of this gift shop yeah if you could knock anything off of this wall that would be great it would help me prove that there is something in here to this man this is the the dumbest scene we've ever filmed the outside isolation cell is another area of the prison it said that misbehaving prisoners would be placed in this cell under a tin roof forcing those inside to endure the miserable weather conditions in plain view of the other prisoners shall we okay let's get in the box all right let's do it we're here to find out why you're still here and if there's anything else that you wanted to say that was the time can you say either of our names back to us we just want to talk Murray said Murray I'm gonna need to hear more than one word for me to think there's somebody in here who was that the last two voices there is a male and a female do you two know each other what are you trying to say do you love each other when you're gonna pop the question so come on come on good oh did that do that do that way what's it stop all right we're gonna get out of here now thank you guys the guard Watchtower is also said to be active is it possible that guards continue to stay at their post on this tower well this is actually really cool this is the first time we've ever been in a guard tower we've been to so many prisons I've never been in or oh I see what you're saying yeah well so now here's their view of the riots because you could see the gate down exactly this is the view they would have had shall we do a spirit box reach out whoa hello who was that most of the night you've been pretty quiet we're here up in your guard tower and right now we're trying to reach out to any prison guards who watched over this prison that's right can you say our names back to us just to let us know that you would like to talk to us again Ryan Shane what was that yeah I bet some of you were decent guys just cashing a check but some of you were probably real [ __ ] huh what do you say to me speak up that's what I thought I'm sorry I thought this was a tower full of people who knew what they were doing huh what'd you say speak up coward cowards all of you you hear me Jesus Christ your cards up this is the kind of man that you shouldn't be pushed around by I'm strange and off-putting I should not feel confident in the face of any man yet here you are smiling in the face of the devil because I've triumphed once again however the most feared part of the prison both in present day and back when prisoners were actually incarcerated there is an area referred to as the snake the snake den was a 10-foot by 10-foot punishment cell carved into the hillside with an iron cage inmates could only wear their undergarments and only received water and bread once a day for some this punishment would last months they had no contact with others and light came only from a small ventilation shaft it got the name snake den and scorpion den because legend has it that a cruel guard would drop a snake or scorpion through the air shaft perhaps due to this extended period of suffering many feel this cell is the most active area in the prison according to state historian Marshall Trimble quotes one reporter plan to stay in the cell overnight shackled to a ring bolt for 48 hours with a jug of water and a loaf of bread but after 37 hours call for help to be released insisting that she felt she wasn't alone in the cell end quote to finish off our investigation will investigate the snake dead individual I'm walking into the dark dark cell that's the one oh it stinks I'll tell you that a lot of bats in here now thing about bats I see they're all over the place I hate bat god damn that's a lot of bats there are Oh oh yeah I'm a ghost hunter uh hi if there's any ghosts in here I've been a little preoccupied with all the bats and the large train going by but if you have a moment now would be a good time to make yourself no no that's sometimes carry rabies it's a thing I'm afraid of oh that one was low that was a low one now they're out there getting cocky okay guys so uh how was it in there Ryan I know we've done this a lot of times and I've told you you're going to hate it in there yes this may take the cake for you I think so I was in there briefly just to look at it and I'm not excited right now how many bats were in there when you looked at it earlier about a dozen okay [ __ ] I don't know if I'm able to do this man all right a fright [Music] it's just bats they're just bats sometimes I do a thing where when I'm scared I just I locate the part of my brain that is terrified and I'm just sort of shut it off not today devil birds not today I hope he didn't piss them off when he was in there and there it is the dark cell it's not welcoming or inviting you don't want to go into that room oh my god I could already see them Oh oh boy they're everywhere oh my god oh my god okay so this is awful what the Frick am i doing in here man this is just this is another even a ghost hunt this is just ridiculous I guess they're kind of behind little birds right I'm pissed your friendly neighborhood Ryan that's oh my god okay just warming right by my head Ryan at this point has gotten braver with the ghosts I'm really not sure he's gonna make it through this I'm trying to remain calm is there anybody in here with me besides these bats I think I'd blacking out right now I don't think I'm gonna remember this moment there's so much fear inside of me that I've lost the ability to feel I think I'm gonna cry oh I keep forgetting there's ghosts in here oh my god that is huge that's your time God thank God uh I can't get up at the moment oh my god yeah you can just get up Ryan and walk out that's all you got to do oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god I've got this one going for your ass huh you did it it's quite taxing isn't it no no right I can't my heart's beating so fast that was the worst I'm just overwhelmed by emotion right now it's a lot cadogan cry yeah it's quite um quite a bit to deal with whoa well anyways let's get the hell out of here I'm good I'm so done with this place though it's been many years since Yuma Territorial helped prisoners it's easy to see why some believe those who were incarcerated remain the idea of spending years in this Old West prison is unpleasant to say the least whether it's uneasy spirits or hoards of bats no one can say for sure what truly resides in this prison and whether or not you might territorial is definitively haunted will remain unsolved [Music]

Channel: BuzzFeed Unsolved Network

Views: 6,071,857

Rating: 4.958611 out of 5

Keywords: BuzzFeed, Buzzfeed unsolved, SffZ, Yuma Territorial Prison, buzzfeed unsolved network, cold case, cold-case, cowboy, cowboys, creepy, creepypasta, crime, criminal, demon, detective, detectives, eerie, ghost, guard tower, haunted, investigate, investigation, investigative, jail, mystery, old west, paranormal, prisoners, ryan bergara, scary, shane madej, spirit box, spooky, strange, supernatural, theories, theory, true crime, unexplained, unsolved, unsolved mysteries, unsolved mystery, unsolved network, weird

Id: BEd5p68GUXw

Length: 21min 17sec (1277 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 02 2018