Someone who’ll watch over them

Hear interviews with former guards at the Old Pen

Troy Reeves, ISHS Oral Historian
Kathy Hodges, ISHS Librarian

In 1870 workers completed construction on Idaho’s territorial prison. From that point to its closure in 1973, the complex grew from one cellhouse to several distinct structures surrounded by a sandstone wall. This historic site, now managed by the Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS), once held thousands of prisoners from the notorious to the historically neglected. Before and since 1973, many aspects of the site’s history have been studied. The historiography, however, had lacked substance on those who watched over the inmates. That changed in 1992 when ISHS staffer Kathy Hodges interviewed former Old Idaho Penitentiary (Old Pen) guards. The following audio excerpts should give those interested a flavor of this oral history project.

Peter Wollheim

Preparation for a hanging

On October 17, 1957, Raymond Allen Snowden was hanged. Since that time only one other Idaho state prison inmate has been executed (Keith Wells, 1994), and Snowden was the last to be executed within the walls of the Old Pen. Former guard Ira Gunn witnessed the preparations and implementation of Snowden’s death sentence.
Interview

Beaten and stabbed body discovered

Although Snowden’s demise was the last official execution at the Old pen, it was not the last death there. A few days after the 1971 riot, prison guard Bill Sanders found the beaten and stabbed body of inmate William Butler. Sanders — as well as a co-worker, Chet Stinnett — offered their memories of that event.
Interview 1 • Interview 2

Guards reveal job stress

As one can probably imagine, the life of a prison guard does not offer a stress-free working environment. Former guards Gunn and Sanders discussed the effects of the job on themselves and some of their co-workers.
Interview 1 • Interview 2

Inmate and guard conflicts

Part of the stress of being a prison guard comes from the interaction between him or herself and the penitentiary’s primary population. In these clips Chesley Austin describes two experiences between himself and two prisoners, known as a trustee. Also, guard Stinnett spoke of the aftermath of being attacked by a prisoner.
Interview 1 • Interview 2 • Interview 3

Squawky stories told

Another type of interaction between the guards and prisoners were attempts by the inmates to make, conceal, and drink a homemade alcohol, known as squawky, whose main ingredient was some type of rotting fruit. Former guard Bill Sanders recounts two squawky stories, one about how a prisoner’s long-time use of the drink caused his demise and the other about how some prisoners made squawky literally right under one guard’s chair.
Interview 1 • Interview 2

Pregnant prisoners speak

The prison’s environment did not always denote death or incarceration. During the time when the Old Idaho Pen housed both men and women, several women prisoners gave birth to babies during their stay. Former nurse and women’s ward matron, Lulu Rowan, talked about her memories of those pregnant prisoners.
Interview (please increase your volume to listen)

Escape attempt and self-sufficiency

One goal of the Old Pen was to be self-sufficient. To meet that vision, the prison had a work farm and ranch on Eagle Island on the Boise River. One guard who spent over a decade at the facility was Donald Dye. He tells two stories about the Island, one about its buildings and the other about a successful escape attempt.
Interview 1 • Interview 2

Biography and acknowledgments

Since June 1999 Troy Reeves has served as the ISHS Oral Historian. In his spare time, he tries to listen to his wife, Christine, and his two babies (Ainsley and Owen) as well as he has listened to the over 200 Idahoans he has interviewed on dozens of Idaho

history topics. Reeves would like to acknowledge ISHS staffers Kathy Hodges and Rachelle Littau and former staffer Nikki Rutledge for their work regarding the Old Pen’s history.