I have visited the Old Yuma Prison several times and it is a fascinating visit! Inside the old dining hall are alot of exhibits such as letters that were written by prsoners and guards and antique items used back in the day such as razors, knives, uniforms, etc.
There are three things at the old prison that stand out in my mind more than anything else.
The first thing is the guard tower, which is still in excellent condition. It overlooks the former confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Since the Gila now meets the Colorado about 10 miles outside Yuma, the old confluence is not what it used to be since only about 150 feet of the Gila's old channel still exists, but the actual meeting point is still there.
I also vividly remember the dark cell, or solitary confinement cell. It is a room that is cut into the side of the hill and the back part of the room is pitch dark, even in mid afternoon. It must have been a horrible way to spend a few hours, much less days or even weeks.
Lastly, the most vivid memory I have of the old prison are the cells themselves. The typical cell was approximately 10 feet by 6 feet and contained triple bunks on each side of the room. Six prisoners living in an area of roughly sixty square feet! I also cannot get over the narrowness of the beds. They are about half the width of a twin bed! These beds were only about two feet wide! They had iron springs with very thin mattresses on top of the springs. I know that people were generally smaller back then than they are today, but these beds seem to small even for the dimunitive human frames of the nineteenth century. I have visited many former U.S. Cavalry forts that have some original, period furnishings and, while those beds are smaller than beds of today, they are still bigger than the beds in the Old Yuma Prison. Not all of the cells in the Old Yuma Prison still have the beds in them.
The original prison entrance, or sally port, in still standing not far from the guard tower.
The Old Yuma Prison closed in September, 1909 when the new prison in Florence opened. Shortly after the prison closed, it served as Yuma High School for four years, from 1910 to 1914. I will have a bit more to say about that in the next edition of this blog.
Also, during the Great Depression, homeless people took up residence in the abandoned prison. Finally, in 1960, Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park opened to the public to preserve what remained of the symbol of frontier justice. The prison that visitors see today is only about 25% of the original complex. This was only the fourth state park to open in Arizona. Arizona was one of the last states to establish a system of state parks. Since there is so much federal land in Arizona, it was thought that state parks were unnecessary. The first state park in Arizona; Tombstone Courthouse, did not open until 1949. It was the only state park until Jerome State Historic Park opened in 1957 and then Tubac Presidio opened in 1958. These are all historical parks. The first recreational state park, Lyman Lake, opened in 1960, shortly after Yuma Prison opened as a tourist attraction. Lyman Lake is located midway between St. Johns and Springerville on the
pinon-studded grasslands of eastern Arizona, near the border with New Mexico.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
"THe Hell Hole Of The West"
In its day, the Old Yuma Prison was known as "The Hell Hole of the West" by many people. This stereotype was reinforced by Westerns after television became popular. It was also enforced by the many dime novels that came out at the time. However, people who lived in Yuma during the 33 years that it was open, had a different view of the prison that looked down menacingly over the sunbaked, adobe town below Prison Hill. The residents of Yuma actually made alot of comments and allegations that prisoners were being coddled.
Compared to prisons of today, the Old Yuma Prison was barbaric and cruel, but, for its time, it was actually modern and progressive. For example, one of the first electric generating plants in the West was installed at the prison. This plant ran lights and provided ventilation for the complex. The prisoners actually slept cooler at nights than the local residents because of the ventilation system. This was significant in the scorching summer months that this area has always been known for. The prison also had a library, a rarity for the day. Townspeople would pay a fee to use the library at the prison and this money was used to purchase books for the library.
There are some stories that, during the night, prison guards would throw snakes into cells while prisoners were sleeping or would put bugs into prison uniforms that had been freshly laundered. Some of these stories may well be true because that sort of thing did happen at prisons back in the day and, even though Yuma was a modern and progressive prison for its time, I am sure these things still happened on occasion because many of the prison guards were cruel. Also, some of these offenses may have been perpetrated by other prisoners and not necessarily guards.
In the 33 years the Yuma Prison was open(1876-1909), it housed 3,069 prisoners. Among the people incarcerated here, 29 of them were women, including one of the most notorious female outlaws, Pearl Hart. The last prisoner left on September 15,1909 and was transferred to the then brand new Florence Prison, which today is the largest of Arizona's state prisons.
When the last prisoner left Old Yuma Prison, Arizona was still a territory. Statehood was not gained until February 14, 1912.
Compared to prisons of today, the Old Yuma Prison was barbaric and cruel, but, for its time, it was actually modern and progressive. For example, one of the first electric generating plants in the West was installed at the prison. This plant ran lights and provided ventilation for the complex. The prisoners actually slept cooler at nights than the local residents because of the ventilation system. This was significant in the scorching summer months that this area has always been known for. The prison also had a library, a rarity for the day. Townspeople would pay a fee to use the library at the prison and this money was used to purchase books for the library.
There are some stories that, during the night, prison guards would throw snakes into cells while prisoners were sleeping or would put bugs into prison uniforms that had been freshly laundered. Some of these stories may well be true because that sort of thing did happen at prisons back in the day and, even though Yuma was a modern and progressive prison for its time, I am sure these things still happened on occasion because many of the prison guards were cruel. Also, some of these offenses may have been perpetrated by other prisoners and not necessarily guards.
In the 33 years the Yuma Prison was open(1876-1909), it housed 3,069 prisoners. Among the people incarcerated here, 29 of them were women, including one of the most notorious female outlaws, Pearl Hart. The last prisoner left on September 15,1909 and was transferred to the then brand new Florence Prison, which today is the largest of Arizona's state prisons.
When the last prisoner left Old Yuma Prison, Arizona was still a territory. Statehood was not gained until February 14, 1912.
Friday, March 16, 2012
A Frontier Prison
In the northeast corner of the city of Yuma lies a small, but heavily visited state park. This dimunitive state park only covers about 20 acres. Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park is the third most visited state park in Arizona and it is the most visited of the state historic parks. The two more visited Arizona state parks; Lake Havasu and Slide Rock, are water-based, recreational parks, although Slide Rock does have a few historic structures of interest but its primary focus is Oak Creek, which is literally jam-packed with swimmers on every warm to hot day of the year.
Anyway, Old Yuma Prison, as I will call it for short, lies on a bluff above the Colorado River. This is the spot I mentioned in the last edition of this blog where the Colorado River gets pinched between two bluffs, one on each side of the river. Old Yuma Prison is on the Arizona side of the river. It lies at the former confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Yes, I said "former confluence." Just below the bluff on which the prison sits is where the Gila River, which starts 652 miles away in western New Mexico, once flowed into the Colorado River. Now the Gila meets the Colorado about 10 miles east of Yuma. I have heard conflicting reports about the new location for the two rivers' meeting point. I have heard that the Gila carved itself a newer, straighter channel during a flood like rivers are known to do and I have also heard that the confluence was deliberately moved several miles outside of Yuma as a flood control project because, in its early days, Yuma suffered several catastrophic floods and the Army Corps of Engineers moved the confluence away from the city to spare it from the wrath of repeated floods in the future. I am not sure which story is correct, but, at any rate, the Gila River no longer meets the Colorado River just below the Old Yuma Prison. However, about 1,000 feet of the Gila River's old channel can still be seen at the site of the former confluence. Water from the Colorado usually backs up into the Gila's old channel. At the end of the old channel, there is a massive levee and the old channel has been obliterated at that point.
The Old Yuma Prison today is only a fraction of the original complex. After the prison closed in 1909, many of the buildings were demolished. The Southern Transcontinetal Railroad came through Yuma in 1877, but in a different location. It was re-routed to its current location in the early 1900s and that is when many of the old prison's buildings were demolished. A new bridge was built at the narrowest point of the river, atop the bluffs on either side, right next to the old prison. Now, with the main line of the railroad running right alongside the Old Yuma Prison, it makes for a noisy and bone-jarring visit to this fascinating place, but the old prison is still a worthwhile visit for anyone because it offers an eye-opening glimpse into the "Wild West Days" of the United States as this country continued to expand westward and become a coast to coast nation.
Anyway, Old Yuma Prison, as I will call it for short, lies on a bluff above the Colorado River. This is the spot I mentioned in the last edition of this blog where the Colorado River gets pinched between two bluffs, one on each side of the river. Old Yuma Prison is on the Arizona side of the river. It lies at the former confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Yes, I said "former confluence." Just below the bluff on which the prison sits is where the Gila River, which starts 652 miles away in western New Mexico, once flowed into the Colorado River. Now the Gila meets the Colorado about 10 miles east of Yuma. I have heard conflicting reports about the new location for the two rivers' meeting point. I have heard that the Gila carved itself a newer, straighter channel during a flood like rivers are known to do and I have also heard that the confluence was deliberately moved several miles outside of Yuma as a flood control project because, in its early days, Yuma suffered several catastrophic floods and the Army Corps of Engineers moved the confluence away from the city to spare it from the wrath of repeated floods in the future. I am not sure which story is correct, but, at any rate, the Gila River no longer meets the Colorado River just below the Old Yuma Prison. However, about 1,000 feet of the Gila River's old channel can still be seen at the site of the former confluence. Water from the Colorado usually backs up into the Gila's old channel. At the end of the old channel, there is a massive levee and the old channel has been obliterated at that point.
The Old Yuma Prison today is only a fraction of the original complex. After the prison closed in 1909, many of the buildings were demolished. The Southern Transcontinetal Railroad came through Yuma in 1877, but in a different location. It was re-routed to its current location in the early 1900s and that is when many of the old prison's buildings were demolished. A new bridge was built at the narrowest point of the river, atop the bluffs on either side, right next to the old prison. Now, with the main line of the railroad running right alongside the Old Yuma Prison, it makes for a noisy and bone-jarring visit to this fascinating place, but the old prison is still a worthwhile visit for anyone because it offers an eye-opening glimpse into the "Wild West Days" of the United States as this country continued to expand westward and become a coast to coast nation.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Bathed In Sunshine
In the eastern part of Yuma, there is a very busy street called Araby Road. This street got its name because someone who came through the area in the 1800s said the area looks "araby."
How clever. That was a reference to all of the sand dunes in the area and it reminded him of the Arabian Desert.
Yuma is a city with a strong military presence. East of town is the Barry Goldwater Air Force Gunnery Range, which stretches for about 150 miles towards the east. About 20 miles north of town is the Yuma Proving Ground, which, I believe, is used by all branches of the military. On the south side of Yuma, adjacent to the airport, is the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station and, west of town, in California, is the Chocolate Mountain Gunnery Range. The abundant hours of sunshine in the Yuma area is the main reason all of the military bases are in this area. There is very little rain and most days are bright, sunny and warm and this is seen as the optimum conditions for military training and maneuvers.
The area where Yuma was eventually founded had long been a preferred crossing for travelers, explorers, missionaries and soldiers who were traveling through the area, on their way to and from California and also by people who sailed up to the head of the Sea of Cortez , in Mexico. They disembarked at a now vanished port town called Port Isabel. The Colorado River, at the time much, much wider than it is today, had a shallow area that made it easier to cross here than in other places. This shallow place, or ford, came to be known as The Yuma Crossing and was the principal reason Fort Yuma was established on the California side of the river and the Yuma Quartermaster Depot was established on the Arizona side. The Yuma Quartermaster Depot, now a state park, was a supply center that looked just like a fort and was managed in the same way, but its mission was economic rather than defense. Its function was to serve as a supply center for all of the forts in a huge area of the western United States.
In 1540, Spanish explorers Hernando de Alarcon and Melchior Diaz saw the strategic importance of this area and thought it would be be an ideal place for a city, so it is rather surprising that no city existed here for another three centuries. Well known military expeditions that used the Yuma Crossing included Juan Bautista de Anza in 1774, The Mormon Battalion in 1848 and the California Column in 1862. Also, just about any well known explorer of the era came through here. Not only was there a shallow place in the river that allowed for easier crossing, but, about half a mile upstream, the Colorado River squeezed between two bluffs and, as a result, was significantly narrower than it was everywhere else. Old journals say that the narrow part of the river was "less than 1,000 feet wide." Today, sadly, the river is about 30 feet wide in this area.
The railroad built through here in 1877, part of the Southern Transcontinental Railroad, and the bridge was built between the two bluffs, where the river was the narrowest. The coming of the railroad spelled the end for Port Isabel, Mexico, which was completely abandoned by 1879. The first automobile bridge in this area also crossed between the bluffs, right next to the railroad bridge. The automobile bridge, called the "Ocean to Ocean Highway Bridge," opened in 1914. It carried the original alignment of U.S. Highway 80 across the river until the newer bridge, now called the Fourth Avenue Bridge, opened to traffic.
How clever. That was a reference to all of the sand dunes in the area and it reminded him of the Arabian Desert.
Yuma is a city with a strong military presence. East of town is the Barry Goldwater Air Force Gunnery Range, which stretches for about 150 miles towards the east. About 20 miles north of town is the Yuma Proving Ground, which, I believe, is used by all branches of the military. On the south side of Yuma, adjacent to the airport, is the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station and, west of town, in California, is the Chocolate Mountain Gunnery Range. The abundant hours of sunshine in the Yuma area is the main reason all of the military bases are in this area. There is very little rain and most days are bright, sunny and warm and this is seen as the optimum conditions for military training and maneuvers.
The area where Yuma was eventually founded had long been a preferred crossing for travelers, explorers, missionaries and soldiers who were traveling through the area, on their way to and from California and also by people who sailed up to the head of the Sea of Cortez , in Mexico. They disembarked at a now vanished port town called Port Isabel. The Colorado River, at the time much, much wider than it is today, had a shallow area that made it easier to cross here than in other places. This shallow place, or ford, came to be known as The Yuma Crossing and was the principal reason Fort Yuma was established on the California side of the river and the Yuma Quartermaster Depot was established on the Arizona side. The Yuma Quartermaster Depot, now a state park, was a supply center that looked just like a fort and was managed in the same way, but its mission was economic rather than defense. Its function was to serve as a supply center for all of the forts in a huge area of the western United States.
In 1540, Spanish explorers Hernando de Alarcon and Melchior Diaz saw the strategic importance of this area and thought it would be be an ideal place for a city, so it is rather surprising that no city existed here for another three centuries. Well known military expeditions that used the Yuma Crossing included Juan Bautista de Anza in 1774, The Mormon Battalion in 1848 and the California Column in 1862. Also, just about any well known explorer of the era came through here. Not only was there a shallow place in the river that allowed for easier crossing, but, about half a mile upstream, the Colorado River squeezed between two bluffs and, as a result, was significantly narrower than it was everywhere else. Old journals say that the narrow part of the river was "less than 1,000 feet wide." Today, sadly, the river is about 30 feet wide in this area.
The railroad built through here in 1877, part of the Southern Transcontinental Railroad, and the bridge was built between the two bluffs, where the river was the narrowest. The coming of the railroad spelled the end for Port Isabel, Mexico, which was completely abandoned by 1879. The first automobile bridge in this area also crossed between the bluffs, right next to the railroad bridge. The automobile bridge, called the "Ocean to Ocean Highway Bridge," opened in 1914. It carried the original alignment of U.S. Highway 80 across the river until the newer bridge, now called the Fourth Avenue Bridge, opened to traffic.
Monday, February 20, 2012
A City That Gets No Respect
In far southwestern Arizona, on the California border, lies the city of Yuma. Yuma is a city of 112,000 people and is located in one of the hottest and driest places in North America. The average yearly rainfall is only about 2 1/2 inches. Temperatures over 110 degrees are commonplace in the sweltering summer months. There has even been a 30 minute program about Yuma on The Weather Channel called "The Hottest City In America." Well, it is not the hottest city in America, although it is one of the hottest. If they were just talking about cities with over 100,000 people, then maybe it is the hottest, but there are other places that routinely record higher temperatures than Yuma does during the summer months. In Arizona, cities and towns such as Lake Havasu City, Parker, Bullhead City, Gila Bend, Buckeye,Casa Grande and Coolidge are usually hotter than Yuma. There are other places in California and Nevada that also have hotter summers than Yuma does.
Yuma is located about 60 miles from the head of the Sea of Cortez, in Mexico. The Sea of Cortez is the long, narrow arm of the Pacific that separates the Baja Peninsula from mainland Mexico. Yuma's temperatures, while still dangerously hot in the summer months, are moderated slightly by the sea breezes.
Yuma is one of the oldest European settled cities in Arizona. It sprang to life in 1854 after a U.S. Cavalry fort called Fort Yuma, was established on the other side of the Colorado River, in California. The city was originally called Colorado City, but shortly thereafter the name was changed to Arizona City. It took the name "Yuma" in 1873. When the town first got its start, Arizona and New Mexico were combined, administratively, into one territory called New Mexico Territory, but, evidently, people were not really sure if the Colorado River was the border at the time (California became a state in 1850), because the townsite was registered in San Diego and the state of California collected taxes from Yuma (or Arizona City) residents for several years after the town's birth. It is possible that San Diego was easier to reach to register than townsite than Tucson was (Phoenix did not exist yet) because to get to Tucson required a journey over the infamous "El Camino del Diablo" known as "The Road of Death" in English.
Yuma is a city that gets no respect because it is located in an extremely hot, dry, stark and unforgiving landscape, but it is actually a very pleasant city with well maintained streets and I have noticed how clean it always looks when I am there. Yuma is also a city the oozes history. That is a definite plus for a history buff for me.
Yuma is located about 60 miles from the head of the Sea of Cortez, in Mexico. The Sea of Cortez is the long, narrow arm of the Pacific that separates the Baja Peninsula from mainland Mexico. Yuma's temperatures, while still dangerously hot in the summer months, are moderated slightly by the sea breezes.
Yuma is one of the oldest European settled cities in Arizona. It sprang to life in 1854 after a U.S. Cavalry fort called Fort Yuma, was established on the other side of the Colorado River, in California. The city was originally called Colorado City, but shortly thereafter the name was changed to Arizona City. It took the name "Yuma" in 1873. When the town first got its start, Arizona and New Mexico were combined, administratively, into one territory called New Mexico Territory, but, evidently, people were not really sure if the Colorado River was the border at the time (California became a state in 1850), because the townsite was registered in San Diego and the state of California collected taxes from Yuma (or Arizona City) residents for several years after the town's birth. It is possible that San Diego was easier to reach to register than townsite than Tucson was (Phoenix did not exist yet) because to get to Tucson required a journey over the infamous "El Camino del Diablo" known as "The Road of Death" in English.
Yuma is a city that gets no respect because it is located in an extremely hot, dry, stark and unforgiving landscape, but it is actually a very pleasant city with well maintained streets and I have noticed how clean it always looks when I am there. Yuma is also a city the oozes history. That is a definite plus for a history buff for me.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Entering The Valley
It is a dramatic descent from the summit of Telegraph Pass into the Gila Valley. Some maps call it the Yuma Valley. Approximately 190,000 people live in this area in the southwest corner of Arizona. Looking at this area on an aerial map is striking. It shows 2 ribbons of green, a narrow one for the Gila River and its accompanying valley coming from the east and a much wider ribbon of green centered along the Colorado River sandwiched by sand dunes on either side of the Colorado's "ribbon of green" and brown desert on each side of the Gila River. The Colorado River's ribbon of green empties into a wider patch of green that encompasses the northern part of the Mexican state of Baja California. The sand dunes are the Yuma Sand Dunes, south and east of Yuma and the more famous Imperial Sand Dunes in Southeastern California. Alot of movies have been filmed in the Imperial Sand Dunes. Just about any movie that takes place in the Sahara Desert is actually filmed here. The Imperial Sand Dunes were originally beach sand dunes on the shore of a long vanished northward extension of the Gulf of California, which is also called the Sea of Cortez (my preferred name). The Sea of Cortez once extended almost to present day Palm Springs, California. In fact the sea level line goes right through Indio, which is a few miles east of Palm Springs. This ancient seabed in California, west of the dunes, is a very fertile farming area called the Imperial Valley. Old campfire rings, ash deposits and stone tools have been found all along the sea level line. The ribbon of green along the Colorado River is deep and fertile silt that was laid down by the river over the eons. The river's course wandered back and forth across this area over the centuries and the soil is extremly deep.
Well, back to the mountains of Fortuna. Immediately west of the mountains lies a substantial, unincorporated town called Fortuna Foothills. It has about 27,000 people and is the third largest town in Yuma County. There have been several attempts by Yuma over the years to annex Fortuna Foothills into the city, but all efforts have failed. Fortuna Foothills does not have a central business district and is completely suburban in character. It lies mostly south of Interstate 8 and abuts the boundary of the Barry Goldwater Air Force Gunnery Range, which is a massive bombing and gunnery range that stretches about 150 miles from east to west. The southern boundary of the base is the border with Mexico. The infamous El Camino del Diablo, or "the Road of Death," in English, runs through the base. It was the trail taken by fortune seekers, explorers, missionaries and wide-eyed adventurers in centuries past as the made their way to California. Many of them didn't make it, succumbing to the harsh and waterless desert. Today, the old trail reposes silently in the desert sun, serving as a haunting reminder of the perils of travel in days gone by.
Well, back to the mountains of Fortuna. Immediately west of the mountains lies a substantial, unincorporated town called Fortuna Foothills. It has about 27,000 people and is the third largest town in Yuma County. There have been several attempts by Yuma over the years to annex Fortuna Foothills into the city, but all efforts have failed. Fortuna Foothills does not have a central business district and is completely suburban in character. It lies mostly south of Interstate 8 and abuts the boundary of the Barry Goldwater Air Force Gunnery Range, which is a massive bombing and gunnery range that stretches about 150 miles from east to west. The southern boundary of the base is the border with Mexico. The infamous El Camino del Diablo, or "the Road of Death," in English, runs through the base. It was the trail taken by fortune seekers, explorers, missionaries and wide-eyed adventurers in centuries past as the made their way to California. Many of them didn't make it, succumbing to the harsh and waterless desert. Today, the old trail reposes silently in the desert sun, serving as a haunting reminder of the perils of travel in days gone by.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Telegraph Pass
After Old U.S. Highway 80 rejoins Interstate 8, at Exit #21, the freeway alomost immediately begins climbing through the Gila Mountains, which are also known as the Fortuna Mountains, the name I prefer. A few miles farther east, the railroad curves to the north and goes around the north end of the mountain range and then loops back south to Yuma, but U.S. Highway 80 made its way through the mountain range and, now, Interstate 8 closely follows the old highway's former path up and over Telegraph Pass.
I am not really sure what the elevation is at the summit of Telegraph Pass because it seems like every map I have looked at and every book I have looked at gives a different elevation. I have seen the following elevations for Telegraph Pass: 767 feet above sea level; 844 feet above sea level; 921 feet above sea level; 1,052 feet above sea level; 1,107 feet above sea level and 1,903 feet above sea level. At any rate, it is a steep climb up and over the Fortuna Mountains. The elevation at Wellton, east of the mountain range, is 256 feet and the elevation of Yuma, to the west, is 141 feet.
When Interstate 8 threads its way through the mountain range, it is a dramatic ascent up to the pass and then an event steeper descent down the west side of the mountains. The first time I ever drove through this area, I was taken aback by the fact that while the freeway goes through the mountain range, the westbound lanes of the interstate cross over the eastbound lanes on a viaduct. The traffic goes on the left for slightly more than one mile and then the westbound lanes cross back over to the other side and resume their logical place. It is a little strange to see westbound traffic on the left and eastbound traffic on the right, reminiscent of the United Kingdom. Since then, one other highway in Arizona has been built in the same manner. State Highway 87 between Mesa and Payson was built in the same way when it was converted from a two-lane highway to a four-lane, divided highway. Traffic on Highway 87 goes on the left for about a mile.
A drive up and over Telegraph Pass east of Yuma will reveal abandoned stretches of Old Highway 80 above the freeway. There is one piece of the old highway that is about 75 feet long and it just dead-ends on both ends of it and, beyond the dead-ends, are steep dropoffs to the freeway below.
I am not really sure what the elevation is at the summit of Telegraph Pass because it seems like every map I have looked at and every book I have looked at gives a different elevation. I have seen the following elevations for Telegraph Pass: 767 feet above sea level; 844 feet above sea level; 921 feet above sea level; 1,052 feet above sea level; 1,107 feet above sea level and 1,903 feet above sea level. At any rate, it is a steep climb up and over the Fortuna Mountains. The elevation at Wellton, east of the mountain range, is 256 feet and the elevation of Yuma, to the west, is 141 feet.
When Interstate 8 threads its way through the mountain range, it is a dramatic ascent up to the pass and then an event steeper descent down the west side of the mountains. The first time I ever drove through this area, I was taken aback by the fact that while the freeway goes through the mountain range, the westbound lanes of the interstate cross over the eastbound lanes on a viaduct. The traffic goes on the left for slightly more than one mile and then the westbound lanes cross back over to the other side and resume their logical place. It is a little strange to see westbound traffic on the left and eastbound traffic on the right, reminiscent of the United Kingdom. Since then, one other highway in Arizona has been built in the same manner. State Highway 87 between Mesa and Payson was built in the same way when it was converted from a two-lane highway to a four-lane, divided highway. Traffic on Highway 87 goes on the left for about a mile.
A drive up and over Telegraph Pass east of Yuma will reveal abandoned stretches of Old Highway 80 above the freeway. There is one piece of the old highway that is about 75 feet long and it just dead-ends on both ends of it and, beyond the dead-ends, are steep dropoffs to the freeway below.
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