I was itching to get going to see something cool, unique and abandoned. I may have been the only one, until we found the prison camp. Yep, I said prison camp. History Lesson 101: In the mid 1920's, the governor or someone like that, who knows, decided that there needed to be a road that would take people up Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona. SO, they started to build a road. But, labor was hard to find and was expensive. So this guy, I think his name was Hitchcock, came up with this idea - let's use prisoners. So they set up a camp, later moved to the location we found today, that housed prisoners and guards, and building a road they did. At first it was just tax evasion prisoners, or those that did white collar crimes, but then when WW2 broke out, they used some of the Japanese Americans that were interned and/or that did not turn themselves in to the government to be interned. There were no walls, just white painted rocks that served as the boundaries for the prisoners. They worked 7 - 8 hour days, living in barracks along the creek (see pictures of the long open foundation below). They played ball, they were allowed to hike within limits, and there were really no walls. Not heaven, but the air was dry and cool and it was what it was. Later the location was used for a juvenile facility, then a Native American facility and then torn down. All that remains are some seriously beautiful steps, some foundations, walls, and some other man made things. Metal is twisted among crumbled rock, walls serve as trails .
so, on that note - now that you just passed your history requirement for my blog, we got in the Prius and headed up Mr. Lemmon. It in itself is beautiful. The road is lovely, winding in and out of the mountains. The saguaro are plentiful on the bottom, thinning as you get higher and higher. Bikers travel all the way up the 25 miles to Summerhaven,;quite impressive feat if you ask me. we just admired to scenery, took in the cool air and wondered about what was next.
Once we rounded the Mile 7 marker, the Gordon Hirabayashi Campground, named after one of the prisoners, was on our left. we turned,parked, got out and explored. Our first stop was the amazing steps, constructed of stone, curved, eloquent even. They led up several flights to level ground. Foundations, metal, walls and beautiful Arizona were all around us. We walked, hiked, climbed and jumped up, around and down. somehow, man and wife got separated , so we later met back at the car. But, before that, there was a walk in the stream, a collection of rocks and the discovery of more foundations.
Across the stream via some man made steps, we ended up where the prisoners once lived. Look, what the government did with these men is not right, making them build the road because they did not want to have to pay anyone, or the fact that some of the workers should not have even been imprisoned to begin with. However, those that did do crimes, I would say that living up there, with the beauty, outdoors and a sense of freedom, seems a lot better than being n a small jail cell in hot desert land.
The adventure ended with a rock kicking, water splashing journey out of the creek. I will admit, my camera died at that point so I did not get as many shots as I would have liked. But I did get this: these men put all their hard work into building this amazing road that takes hundreds of people a day up this beautiful mountain, me and my family being just a few. I thank you for that and for this adventure that is basically lost in the Coronado Forest on Mt. Lemmon. You never know what you might find when you just get out there.
so, on that note - now that you just passed your history requirement for my blog, we got in the Prius and headed up Mr. Lemmon. It in itself is beautiful. The road is lovely, winding in and out of the mountains. The saguaro are plentiful on the bottom, thinning as you get higher and higher. Bikers travel all the way up the 25 miles to Summerhaven,;quite impressive feat if you ask me. we just admired to scenery, took in the cool air and wondered about what was next.
Once we rounded the Mile 7 marker, the Gordon Hirabayashi Campground, named after one of the prisoners, was on our left. we turned,parked, got out and explored. Our first stop was the amazing steps, constructed of stone, curved, eloquent even. They led up several flights to level ground. Foundations, metal, walls and beautiful Arizona were all around us. We walked, hiked, climbed and jumped up, around and down. somehow, man and wife got separated , so we later met back at the car. But, before that, there was a walk in the stream, a collection of rocks and the discovery of more foundations.
Across the stream via some man made steps, we ended up where the prisoners once lived. Look, what the government did with these men is not right, making them build the road because they did not want to have to pay anyone, or the fact that some of the workers should not have even been imprisoned to begin with. However, those that did do crimes, I would say that living up there, with the beauty, outdoors and a sense of freedom, seems a lot better than being n a small jail cell in hot desert land.
The adventure ended with a rock kicking, water splashing journey out of the creek. I will admit, my camera died at that point so I did not get as many shots as I would have liked. But I did get this: these men put all their hard work into building this amazing road that takes hundreds of people a day up this beautiful mountain, me and my family being just a few. I thank you for that and for this adventure that is basically lost in the Coronado Forest on Mt. Lemmon. You never know what you might find when you just get out there.