BajaNomad - Mulege Prison Information

Mulege Prison Information

licheda - 1-26-2008 at 04:54 PM

I am interested in obtaining historical information about the prison at Mulege. My wife's great grandfather is said to have helped build it while serving in the Army. We are trying to make sure as much information as possible is available for future generations.

thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Dave L

CaboRon - 1-26-2008 at 08:48 PM

Welcome to the forum licheda !!

Hope you find the information you are looking for.

CaboRon

Cypress - 1-27-2008 at 06:29 AM

licheda, Welcome. It's an interesting place, well built.

The pigeons like to roost there.

David K - 1-27-2008 at 10:35 AM

I am hoping LINDSAY sees this as she was involved in the museum development at the old prison!

Photo of lindsay at Viva Baja #4, Feb. 1, 2003

[Edited on 1-27-2008 by David K]

...In books

John M - 1-27-2008 at 12:06 PM

Dave, surprisingly to me, I have found only very brief mention of the prison in two books, neither could be considered as historic accounts.

First in Ralph Hanc-ck's Baja California
Second in O.W. Timberman's Mexico's Diamond in the Rough

I'll look further.

John

Natalie Ann - 1-27-2008 at 12:28 PM

I have some photos of the old prison, now museum, in Mulege... perhaps you'd like to see them.

the building:

Nena

Natalie Ann - 1-27-2008 at 12:29 PM

the roster on the office wall:

Nena

Natalie Ann - 1-27-2008 at 12:31 PM

drawing on wall depicts area at time of prison:

Nena

Natalie Ann - 1-27-2008 at 12:32 PM

the cells:

Nena

Natalie Ann - 1-27-2008 at 12:33 PM

inside of cell was very small:

Nena

Natalie Ann - 1-27-2008 at 12:34 PM

I'm uncertain how this room was used... perhaps storage? Compared to the size of the cells, I've always thought of this as the 'great room'.

Nena

Natalie Ann - 1-27-2008 at 12:36 PM

Quite a lovely shawl on display:

Nena

Natalie Ann - 1-27-2008 at 12:37 PM

And my personal favorite of all the wall drawings or paintings... Guadalupe:

Nena

bajalera - 1-27-2008 at 04:08 PM

Thanks, Natalie Ann, those are great photos.

DianaT - 1-28-2008 at 09:51 AM

Those are good pictures----enjoyed them. Especially like the drawings etc. on the walls, but that always brings up a question in my mind.

But since this thread is about the prison, and I hope someone comes up with some of the history, I will save my question for another thread.

Thanks for the question, and thanks for the pictures.

Diane

toneart - 1-28-2008 at 12:02 PM

Has anybody noticed that the hideous new entrance to the town is supposed to represent the prison?

Natalie Ann - 1-28-2008 at 12:04 PM

No, Art, surely you jest. What could one possibly have to do with the other?! (granted I've only seen the pictures, but they said enough)

Nena

bajaboolie - 1-29-2008 at 11:25 AM

Thanks for posting those photos. I've been going to Mulege for a long time, but I've never made my way up to the prison. I've always wanted to, but for some reason just haven't (usually we're hungry when we roll into town, and then after lunch and a beer we like to just hang in the square). I am inspired to definitely go next time.

Natalie Ann - 1-29-2008 at 11:47 AM

bajaboolie - Most definitely you should visit the old prison/museum. It is just a short walk up the hill - the view is great, and the walk afterwards makes the beer downtown taste especially sweet.

There is a lot more to the prison/museum that I have even touched on.... and their displays are always being added to. They have one of the best arrowhead collections I've seen, including some of the double-headed variety from the very early Concepcion period. J.R. had a few of these double-headed ones given to him by folks from that area, but in general they are extremely rare.

Nena

toneart - 1-29-2008 at 02:28 PM

Nena,
No, I am not kidding. The new entrance gateway has the same notches in the towers as the prison. I do believe the genius politician who approved the design had the Mulege Prison culture/history in mind. (try to look up the string that appeared about a month ago with the photos).

By the way, nice photos as usual, Nena.

Quote:

Originally posted by Natalie Ann
No, Art, surely you jest. What could one possibly have to do with the other?! (granted I've only seen the pictures, but they said enough)

Nena

Cypress - 1-29-2008 at 04:33 PM

Natalie Ann, Thanks for the photos. :spingrin:

Natalie Ann - 1-30-2008 at 09:20 AM

You're right, of course, Art. I remember that photo of the gate - at the time the shape of it rang a bell, although I did not realize the bell was attached to the prison/museum. Amazing they took something so historically sweet and made it so.... well.... never mind. Is it still that, ahem, lovely bright color as in the photo?

Nena

Paula - 1-30-2008 at 09:24 AM

Nena, when I was in Mulege a few weeks ago it was srill under construction, and still cement gray. I think the clor photo was a projection by an imaginative poster. Could it have been Pompano? :light:

Natalie Ann - 1-30-2008 at 09:28 AM

Right, Paula, you are definitely right - it was Pompano and I fell for it. Good one! Now I'm going to try to imagine that arch becoming a beautiful entrance to the city.

Nena

toneart - 1-30-2008 at 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Natalie Ann
You're right, of course, Art. I remember that photo of the gate - at the time the shape of it rang a bell, although I did not realize the bell was attached to the prison/museum. Amazing they took something so historically sweet and made it so.... well.... never mind. Is it still that, ahem, lovely bright color as in the photo?

Nena

Well, they are working on it every day, sometimes digging up the street and diverting traffic. It is still bare cement....no paint. I think it is going to be a giant public toilet. I told Mely that when completed, nobody will be allowed out of town.

Natalie Ann - 1-30-2008 at 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by toneart
I told Mely that when completed, nobody will be allowed out of town.

Fact is, when the prison was a prison the prisoners were held to an honor system, as someone mentioned earlier. They left during the day to go to work, then voluntarily returned each evening. If I remember correctly, pretty much everyone returned. Odd... perhaps the food was real good. :?:

Nena

toneart - 1-31-2008 at 10:10 AM

They started painting it yesterday. Yellow and muted orange, so far. The street is still dirt and rutty. They dig it up over and over again. Parking is greatly diminished. Good WPA program though. :rolleyes:

Sharksbaja - 1-31-2008 at 01:02 PM

I heard that many locals like it. Authentic Baja! They think...."if the gringoos don't like it it must be ok"... :lol:

Prisoners were only allowed to commit crimes during daylight hours. Much like it is today.

Mulege Museum Information

lindsay - 2-7-2008 at 12:10 AM

I've enjoyed all the posts with this thread and I have been off the board for a while so what a nice surprise to open the forum today after several months of being away and have a message from David about the Mulege museum/prison.

Thanks also to Natalie Ann for all her great photos. During my 2 years of working with local high school students who were in a volunteer guide program at the museum, I had the privledge of learning about the prison's history and the community history as well.

So, I will post some more details soon because a lot of great history was documented for signage that you can read about when you visit the museum....if you are in Mulege, it's a great place to learn a lot of interesting info about the prison and Mulege's natural and cultural history.

As for a few interesting tidbits on the prison's history for now, here are a few:
1) The prison's design is based on the Cananea Prison in Sonora. This Sonoran prison also has a connection to the events leading up to the Mexican revolution and was a prison that housed striking miners in the town of Cananea. The street leading up to the museum is called "Calle Cananea" in reference to the Sonoran prison

2) I will need to check on the beginning of the prison's construction but by most accounts, the prison opened in 1907 and local residents were actually conscripted (no choice) to take part in the prison's construction. Oral histories from local residents that were collected for the museum's exhibits described very harsh conditions for the laborers and the military commander who was in charge of the construction project was very strict. I will check this commander name and military rank but I believe that it was Capitaine Alvarez....the name I'm almost 100% on because when the oral histories were being collected, this man I believe was the great grandfather of one of my high school students...interesting connection.

3) As for the prison's history, there's a ton of great stories and info which I will try to write about more next week. Natalie Ann's photos capture some of this history, such as the prison artwork...the Virgin of Guadalupe drawing was done by a female prisoner (one set of cells that is in a wing of the building separated from the main section of cells was exclusively for female prisoners) and this artwork is the only color drawing in the building. Throughout the cells, you can find various artwork, poems and what appears to be prisoners' tallying their days in the prison.

So, it's late in San Diego now and I have to call it a day now but I will try to add more information here this week or by next week. Many great stories and I really enjoyed the Mulege elders sharing this history with us during our time at the museum with the students.

Best wishes to all nomads!! Hasta pronto!!

David K - 2-7-2008 at 08:34 AM

Thank you Lindsay!!!

güéribo - 4-10-2015 at 07:42 AM

This was a great old thread. Any new information on the history of the Mulege prison?

[Edited on 4-10-2015 by güéribo]

BajaBlanca - 4-10-2015 at 08:55 AM

great to see an old Lindsay post - before I ever came to Baja, she was my boss at the school I taught at in La Jolla, California.....and toneart and I taught at the same school in downtown San Diego even before I went to work with Lindsay .....talk about a small world!

I remember how Lindsay often went to Mulege and she would tell us stories about the town and especially the prison BEFORE I ever met Les and moved here.

We now have a new travel goal because I have never been to that prison!

güéribo - 4-10-2015 at 10:00 AM

It's worth seeing. Last time we met a very nice docent who told some cool stories. There's more history there than just the prison. They have some odd and interesting items.

güéribo - 4-10-2015 at 10:19 AM

Including this coin purse made from a bull's . . .

StuckSucks - 4-10-2015 at 11:02 AM

Where in town is the prison/museum located?

güéribo - 4-10-2015 at 11:56 AM

If you drive through the welcome arch into the town proper, you can see it up on the hill. It's a big white colonial-looking building.

Osprey - 4-10-2015 at 02:55 PM

A couple of times I camped (just for the night) in the palm grove beneath the old prison. A loud but funky trumpet got me up so I assume the prison was still open then and it was the call for prisoners to return from their homes where they had spent the night. I was a reckless young dude back then and for those first not quite awake yet seconds I thought the call was for my return too.

güéribo - 4-10-2015 at 03:00 PM

Osprey, what year would that have been? Great story.

Osprey - 4-10-2015 at 03:18 PM

Well, I had my old truck so It must have been after the highway opened --- 73, 74?

Just after the trumpet got me up I walked out on the rocky spit on the north side of the river near the lighthouse with a bar of soap and on the inside (the river side) washed my face and hair. I didn't see the filament jellies that filled my hands which I pressed right against my forehead. For the 8 days left of the trip it appeared that somebody had hit me across the face with a biker's chain.

[Edited on 4-10-2015 by Osprey]

güéribo - 4-10-2015 at 04:23 PM

The prison closed in 1974, when the Territory of Baja California Sur became the State of BCS (and another prison was built). So perhaps you were there in its final days.

David K - 4-10-2015 at 05:30 PM

The completion of a paved Hwy. 1 at the end of 1973 was the doom of the prison in paradise... No longer was isolation possible to warrant allowing the prisoners to leave their cells every morning to work in town. A conch shell was blown in the evening about sundown calling them to return to their cells where they had to spend the night.

The old road along Bahia Concepcion, carved out of rock, was said to have been built by the prisoners.

David K - 4-10-2015 at 05:33 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca

great to see an old Lindsay post - before I ever came to Baja, she was my boss at the school I taught at in La Jolla, California.....and toneart and I taught at the same school in downtown San Diego even before I went to work with Lindsay .....talk about a small world!

I remember how Lindsay often went to Mulege and she would tell us stories about the town and especially the prison BEFORE I ever met Les and moved here.

We now have a new travel goal because I have never been to that prison!

Lindsay attended my Viva Baja parties... here she is at Viva Baja #4 in 2003...

güéribo - 4-11-2015 at 05:51 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

The old road along Bahia Concepcion, carved out of rock, was said to have been built by the prisoners.

Cool detail, David. What was your source?

David K - 4-11-2015 at 10:17 PM

Quote: Originally posted by güéribo

Quote: Originally posted by David K

The old road along Bahia Concepcion, carved out of rock, was said to have been built by the prisoners.

Cool detail, David. What was your source?

If I find it again, I will let you know... seems to me it was in a book I read long ago. Maybe Erle Stanley Gardner's 'The Land of Shorter Shadows'?

lindsay - 4-13-2015 at 08:56 PM

Hi Everyone...thanks for all your great posts on the museum and the prison's history and Blanca told me about the posts here so sorry for my delay in writing...I need to visit the site more, it's been a while!!....so, my post from 2008 had some of the prison history that locals told us during our work at the museum and I need to check with one of my museum friends about more of the history that's in Spanish. As mentioned in my 2008 post, the majority of people who worked on the construction of the building were conscripted (forced) to work on the project as part of military service as well as non-military laborers(but I need to confirm that detail). I know that a few people who worked on the museum project also recorded oral histories with some older Mulege residents so I have to ask about where those recordings are now...thanks again for all the great posts and Osprey also enjoyed reading your recent stories....always a great literary escape to Baja for me...muchos saludos desde San Diego :-)

güéribo - 4-13-2015 at 10:21 PM

Lindsay! Glad you jumped in.

güéribo - 5-2-2015 at 08:35 PM

From the book "Mexico's Diamond in the Rough" (1959):

"At Mulege is located the territorial prison...I carried a letter in Spanish from the sheriff of Pima County Arizona...he at once climbed on to our running board and told me to follow his directions, which took us through several narrow streets, then a sharp right turn and up a steep climb to the top of a high hill, with an excellent view of the entire town...on top of this hill was the prison, surrounded by a high wall with sentry boxes placed on the corners.

We were allowed to go as far as the high iron doors, where we passed out cigarettes and candy to the inmates, totaling four, who were locked inside. I bought, from one of them, a hat band he had made of braided horsehair. From the looks of the interior that we could see from the gate, the quarters could not be called luxurious. The prisoners' blankets, which were all the bed they had, were rolled on the bare ground, and the place was far from sanitary. Any other prisoners they might have were probably off in the town at some form of work, for it was our understanding that the honor system was used here, and those who were in good grace were allowed to do work in the date groves and vegetable gardens close by, the only restrictions being that they could not enter places where intoxicating liquors were sold, and they had to be back at the prison at a specified time each evening to answer roll call. I could not help wonder how an escaped prisoner could go very far in this wasteland and survive, considering the great distance between habitations and the frugal water supply..."

Bob and Susan - 5-3-2015 at 05:57 AM

there's a man that lives next door to the prison that was a prisoner for 11 years...sometimes he give "the tour"

his story is amazing...he continues to live his life in mulege now

he was a musician and was allowed to play in town for "good behavior"

soldier at Mulege prison, 1959

güéribo - 10-16-2015 at 10:37 AM

David K - 10-16-2015 at 09:25 PM

Nice addition!!!
Thank you...

güéribo - 10-18-2015 at 07:34 PM

You're welcome! Wish I could find more of these.

güéribo - 10-23-2015 at 08:40 PM

New online article about the old Mulege prison:

http://www.bcsnoticias.mx/la-carcel-sin-puertas-de-mulege-un...