Initially only a single building in the middle of a 30-acre plot of land near Cañon City, Colorado’s first prison was erected in 1868 before statehood. Colorado’s history of imprisonment has taken a turbulent journey through rebellions, riots, and escapes. The story of Old Max and its architectural journey tells the story of changing attitudes towards crime, justice and punishment.
The cool and calm delivery of the historians hide the fact that this prison was hell on earth.
You broke the law. Why should the authorities abide the law when dealing with you?
@@gachakeaoshi384 USA is not a happy country. It is a “prison”. God bless.
I mean, it ain't supposed to be a resort they go chill at. Are there any prisons that aren't described that way in the US? I don't think I've heard of any.
@@BrassStacks .................prisons are synonymous with USA.
👍🏿
I served 4 yrs there. And it's crazy cause you can still see bullet wholes in the stones and chipped stones from when the riot broke out, the dinning hall has a theatre above it we weren't allowed up there do to construction. I've seen the carvings in the stone walls. Also now there is a fence that goes around the wall. The older lady in this who was speaking in what looks to be the library is or was the librarian very nice woman, they also have a license plate factory which I worked in making plates for the state of Colorado. Truly amazing place not a place I ever want to go back to but it's amazing. The inmates back in the 40s also built skyline drive. And shelf road that leads from canon to cripple Creek a gambling town. Just some more history behind this amazing prison.
I've been in the theatre. I helped build a "fence" there. All day with pick-axes and throw-bars to get one 18 inch hole in the granite. We would put the post, pour the concrete, and the next day move over 4 feet and start again. They filmed "women of San Quntin" while I was there.
Was there behind the walls 1992 and 96. Is like stepping back in time.
What did you do to end up there?
Thank you for sharing this time in history. You should consider writing a book It's very fascinating we have to share.
I love the old PBS shows
Colorado is interesting history!!!
Yes but crewl
Very interesting thank you
Thank you “ Fifty Years” for a breath of SANITY !
Reminds Me of the Old Territorial Prison "now a museum" in Deer Lodge, Montana.
Very interesting.
some of Colorados judges and cops belong there--huh Denver
Cops and judge...spells Corruption!!!!
Aurora PD comes to mind
My grandfather was a guard in canyon city prison for years my father told me some stories that just makes me shudder!
Mine too!
My Grandfather was a Guard there in the 1940"s....so interesting!
Roy BestWas a great word and according to my father and my father was his favorite when he would come to have Sunday dinner because like I said my grandfather was a guard there for years in canyon city
marsha woods Thank you for sharing !!!!!!!
My Father did a bit in one of the prisons in the valley. He actually had time taken off of his sentence by working on a high tension power line that came through in I think the 1950s. Does anyone remember this project? From the stories that I have overheard it was a pretty deadly gamble for the inmates.
The grey haired lady in the blue smock makes prison sound like a community college with caring guards. The prisoners are predators or prey. The guards are hardened by what they see & deal with.
You are so right. I retired with 25 years in TDCJ and it charges you and not for the better.
And corrupt!!!!!!!
@@lavendersunday8712 25 years of wasted life... WHY... you could have choose a different trade... corruption... corruption... Corruption...sad ...sad...sad...
@@cedarwest37 Not everyone who works for the prison is corrupt. It is however a hard profession and it’s not for everyone. Just like with anything in life the bad people/employees make it harder on everyone.
I went on tour in the 70s. You went through the cells where the prisoners were. I remember them staring at us behind their bars.
Things haven't changed much. Blacks, 7:3 also @12:00 did anyone tell this woman that this documentary was about the history of a Supermax? Social workers indeed! Not in 1871and 4 sure not now.
That lady knows NOTHING about prison and prison guards. Social workers? ,Under graduate degrees? Rehabilitation.? I can't stopped laughing. Been there.
That lady, is a robot! Ha ha!
ora et labora, All Craig was pointing out to Joseph was his grammatical mistake, maybe not as tactfully as he could or should have done, but nonetheless it didn’t deserve your vociferous reply, what is it with people today? Why is expecting the use of the English language to be grammatically correct and spelt out in the manner laid down in the Oxford English Dictionary so wrong? Ok, so predictive text and writing comments and text messages is usually done quickly and not checked grammatically, without doubt modern conventions on “text speak” are partly to blame, as is the fact that society moves so quickly that everything is done in haste and the written English conventions go into obscurity, but on platforms like this there are no excuses for poor grammar and spelling, literacy levels in the world have gone down because poor spelling and grammar is the new “normal”, but in my book literacy is actually a good indicator of a persons personality and character, obviously we all make mistakes, I am not perfect in my use of the English language but I do strive to get it right, and pointing out a persons mistakes is a good way to help them improve.
Joseph Jakubec which Lady are you referring to?
ora et labor, if you react to this you should mind your grammar to..
Actually you do ha e to be part social worker to be a successful guard. I swear people think they experts on everything these days
Indiana very first prison was built in 1847 and still is standing today 11/23/19 as it did in 1847 in a Town of Old Clarksville, IN. The Town of Clarksville, Indiana was founded in 1783 by Lewis & Clarksville being one of the oldest and very first Town in America's history.
Colorado has the best prisons and skiing in the country!
Texas the biggest and best prisons.
You should visit the prison... forget the skiing...
There’s a true crime series based on prison valley- basically the proliferation of prisons there has made the area much more unsafe than it was before all the prisons and some crazy sh*t goes on around there...
Cop... means c irruption...a c...a o a p...cop.!
Colorado became Eastern California in the early 1970s.
Care to elaborate?
@@hatespeech_groyper3793 l believe the key phrase is " The place is full of liberals".
Yep, real estate and liberal votes went up....
That's interesting and disturbing at the same time....definitely answers a few questions about Colorado. Sorry I'm a Californian, we're used too.... so 1/3 of people in Colorado are specifically the one in canon city are or have been incarcerated, another third works in the corrections department.... That's like 67% chance a person will end up in jail! Add a few mambie pambie laws, and you now have 89% chance of breaking the law in Colorado. Those odds are greater than a single deck black jack 83.7%...
That is just Canon city not the whole state. Most of the inmates in those prisons come in from other states. These are Federal prisons. The town of Canon city has essentially made imprisonment their main source of income. It was not saying 1/3 of Coloradans are in prison.
No I said at one point in time 1/3 of Coloradoans have been or are incarcerated....
....lol...come to Colorado on vacation---leave on probation.
this is horrifying.
The woman do the talking, men do the working.
Grow up
Interesting and strangely twisted. This video wanders dangerously close to the concept of the glorification of the concept of incarceration. USA has 4% of the world's population and 25% of the world's prisoner population. Go figure.
I've heard of Roy Best * the old gray made & the whippings.. My late husband have Warden Wayne k. Patterson his Nick name " cool breeze" rip. He was a fair person. Mr Patterson wrote a book before he passed away. " keeper of the keys ".
Remember old max well, spent over 39 yrs in the pen, most of it at canon city.
I just drove by and there was prison guards in the towers and it looked like it was active
and now they are run for profit.
Did my time there, mopped out the gas chamber at 19:50 one time. Kept one foot outside just in case the door swung shut. Woke up on fire, saw flying lessons from the top tier, Know a few that will stay there forever. Sad.
Supposedly, it was an election year when Packer went before a judge, and the judge said, " They was only 10 Democrats in Hindsale county, and you et five of 'em."
Edit the cc ... it's Cannon City and not Carlson City
The only remaining supermax in the United States is in Colorado.
Pelican Bay, CA has a sizable supermax section that's quite active called the Special Handling Unit.
i dont think the lady really knows much of the realities - virtually nothing. the next time she should watch folks waiting for buses to court all chained. i dont believe a us prison is in the business of hugs and other stuff, caring rehab etc. is really new to me. apart from that you can get cat whistles from all over the place etc. so its a wonderful experience of the worst kind.
I'm all for equal opportunity! Where TF is our small wall and "house"?
Need to bring back chain gangs to work on the roads and hwy teaching them hard work skills facts
Why don't you head out onto the road and get started Synthia. Here...I'll lend you a shovel...show us how it's done,
Synthia Seven stfu
Why do so many female academics look like experts on what ingredients should be put into a cauldron.Ime just trying to be polite.
I'm thinking because they have never really been touched by evil or seen how dark some people can be goofballs just don't get it some people just can't be fixed
walls of justice,if that's what they call it
Did my time there in the 90's. number was 61602...... was only 19. Spent time in the last man's cell to be executed in the chair, his cell had blue paint with stars all around, Believe or not ... Miss those days! Made a MAN out of me!!! Wish to visit again although I will cry..........
Why would you want to visit that prison again ?
We're all in prison. Most of U.S. just don't know it.
@@Daavee28 You can't even show me a place called America on any map ever made. It's all in your mind. The make believe world you live in where reality means nothing.
@@Daavee28 ...and as if you had anything to do with you being born in North America. How in the hell can you brag about it.
Jon I'm glad your incarceration experience made you a mature person; good for you, sir. I only wished that similar would have happened to my stepdad; he actually grew to like being imprisoned. Eventually the poor man was murdered. I hate prisons but worked in some of them as part of my church prison ministry.
13:40 "women were disproportionately punished" BS! They weren't subjected to "the old gray mare" Always some feminist crying about how bad women had it over the men! Ironic that the next thing in the clip is men rioting because they had it so much better than the women!? It was worse for them so take a hike lady and get some intelligence while you at it!
Nice
Our government carries no justice. This made me sick.
Damn hipesters. I guess we should just try to rehab people who kill. Infact they can come parole at your house
Why don't they have the incarnated fix it..also teach a trade..
Build more prisons , give people work!
you are an idiot
SIN, criminals , don't make excuses for the criminals
Sighs you do know that proportionally there are more christians in jail than atheists dont ya ? Strange that huh ?
You could be one.. Just getting up in morning....
Derr yonk pork. Just chiming in with childish remarks here.
@Coy Leigh If you beat them, they call the cops. So, yeah.
The early days of PRISONS FOR PROFIT...
Lock em up!!!!!!!
.
Corrections officers not guards.
Canon City is full of 'em. They're not normal people.
Why ?
Ans just what r they correcting?
Rocky Mountain "PBS" = "Public Bull Shit". Heads up Joseph Jakubec.
Baby sitters
the occasional goof gets messed up for only half his fault,or not his atall, most,decline early in life to follow rules customs,morals,cannot be taught,true then true now ladies, go spend the summer at huntsville,see what you can do,
if i was in charge of a womens prison id just flog them just for fun .
This is what you get when you dont include men in the narration or discussion. Hug a thug mentality becomes the ridiculous narrative.
Dude get over youself
@@somniumisdreaming classic white knighting. I expect nothing less!
And then there was sanctuary Colorado and the final ruin of the state
KKK
Stop breaking the law a holes!
So tell me something I don't know???
There’s a true crime series based on prison valley- basically the proliferation of prisons there has made the area much more unsafe than it was before all the prisons and some crazy sh*t goes on around there...