2020 Road Trip - Day 3

 

Old Idaho Penitentiary...It was just a matter of time

According to Tripadvisor, there are exactly 2 things to do in Jackpot, Nevada. Number 1, of course, being a visit to Cactus Pete’s Resort and Casino. Done.

Number 2, and probably not surprisingly, is another casino called Barton’s Club 93 Casino, located across the street from Cactus Pete’s. Let me share some internet reviews of Barton’s that sent us running over there for breakfast this morning:

“OK breakfast.”

“Boredom at Cactus Petes send us to 93.” (those typos aren't mine.)

“Nothing Exceptional.”

“I Liked Cactus Pete’s better.”

We checked out of our hotel at 8:00 and shuffled out into the 22-degree morning. We loaded our bags in the car and drove to Barton’s, excited to try that “OK breakfast” we heard so much about. The casino was quiet, and we were the only people in the restaurant. Chad and I each ordered a “Garbage Omelet” which was stuffed with ham, sausage, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes… not actual garbage like I sort of expected. Our breakfast was really delicious, and we spent most of it browsing Audible for our next audio book. We settled on The Hobbit, narrated by Andy Serkis.

Jackpot is a border town, and we crossed into Idaho within minutes of leaving the restaurant. When we reached Twin Falls, we took a quick detour to Perrine Coulee Falls. My friend told me about it saying, “You can walk behind this waterfall, and you get to see the 8^th wonder of the world, the back side of water!” (It’s a Disneyland reference.) We found the 200-foot waterfall and decided not to take the short trail to see the backside of the falls. But here’s a pretty picture because Chad graciously stopped the car long enough for me to jump out and get this shot.:

The top half of the waterfall we didn't hike down to

We stopped for sushi here

A couple hours later, we found ourselves in Boise. We parked downtown near the capital building and walked to a little restaurant called Dharma Sushi & Thai. While we shared a couple sushi rolls, we bought tickets to tour Old Idaho Penitentiary, a jail that opened in 1872 and closed in 1973.

We arrived at the prison and were immediately impressed by the sandstone buildings and massive wall surrounding the complex. The sandstone, we learned, was quarried by the prisoners from the base of the hills surrounding the prison. There were about 12 buildings to explore, and we started our self-guided tour by visiting the boring buildings first like the dining hall, commissary, and barber shop. Inside the buildings we discovered exhibits that provided details about the prison and the criminals it housed: 13,000 inmates in 100 years. The youngest prisoner was a 10-year-old boy who killed a man, and the oldest was an 81-year-old man who was arrested for cattle rustling.

We headed towards the back corner of the prison yard to “Siberia,” the building that housed the solitary confinement cells. I crammed Chad inside of one so I could take this picture:

Chad in Siberia

There are 12 cells, each about 8’ x 3’ 4” with a hole in the ground for you-know-what, and a small hole in the ceiling that acted as ventilation. In 1966, the warden said, “We’d like to get rid of ‘Siberia,’ but what can you do… It seems about the only way we can control a man who knows no fear.” It was hard to imagine that less than 50 years ago, actual prisoners were sent to these cement tomb-like cells.

We made our way to the laundry building, and as I walked into the huge shop, I smelled the dusty machines and the grease and the decades of work, and I called to Chad, who was exploring the grounds behind me, “Come here, this place smells like the shipyard.” Chad walked over, pulled down his mask, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply. “It smells like Todd,” he said, recalling his 2 decades spent in the yards. “I kind of miss it.” *Please note: Todd is an old Seattle shipyard, not a man.* 

We wandered through the building as Chad taught me about all the equipment, the mangle, the dryers, and the centrifuge. I had no idea that my husband knows exactly how a prison laundry system works. He taught me about the motor that powered the machines, the belts, the steam lines... At this point, I’m confident that if I ever get thrown into prison in the early 1900s, I can totally wash the linens and repair the machines when they break down.

After I earned my doctorate in prison laundry systems, we headed to the weapons exhibit and spent the next hour discovering everything there is to know about spears and daggers from the bronze age to today’s weaponry that can wipe out the entire world. Guess what? Chad knew most of it already. I was overwhelmed by the information and feel like we could have spent an entire day in the weapons exhibit alone, but I had somewhere more important to be: Death Row.

In 1954, Cell House 5, the maximum-security cell block, was built and served as permanent solitary confinement for the worst of the worst in this prison. How could I NOT want to explore every square inch of it? I ran up the stairs to where the gallows are located, but slowed down as I saw the Witness Room. Suddenly it felt a lot less like I was on the Shawshank Redemption movie set, and a lot more real. In the witness room there is a large window that looks into the gallows. The gallows is an empty room with a trapdoor on the floor, and a lever that the executioner pulled once the noose was placed around the prisoner’s neck. Outside the witness room, a set of stairs lead to the Drop Room below, the room where the trapdoor opened and the prisoner dangled from a rope. Only one prisoner was executed in the gallows at Old Idaho Penitentiary. His name was Ray Snowden and he brutally murdered a woman in 1956. 

Chad showing me what prisoners
used to do during free time

Then and Now

We continued our tour of the prison, but we eventually had to leave. We needed to get to Pendleton, Oregon, before bedtime and we had hours to drive. We had one final stop at Julia Davis Park because I wanted to see the sculpture Seated Lincoln, which is a replica of a memorial scultpure created by Gutzon Borlgum. You all know him. You just might not know it. Gutzon Borglum is the man who designed Mount Rushmore and oversaw its construction (fun fact: he did it with help from his son, Lincoln).

The sculpture is huge, at least 9-feet tall, and a couple of young boys were climbing on Lincoln when we arrived. We watched them play for a while, but when they wouldn't get off the poor president's lap, we just stared at them like psychos until their mom made them get down so we could take a picture. We didn’t pose on the bench because there were people everywhere and we just wanted to get away from them. Sometimes I think solitary confinement would be an amazing treat. So, imagine one of us sitting on this bench. The top hat would almost come up to our chest. 

After a dark and rainy drive, we arrived in Pendleton. We had reserved a room at a Travel Lodge about 2 hours before we arrived, and Chad pointed out that our hotel rooms keep getting smaller. “Pretty soon we’ll probably be in a hostel in downtown Olympia,” he said as we were getting ready for bed. And I can say this for certain: I’d rather spend a night on Death Row.

-Rachel