The author worked in the field of correction for forty-five years. Almost all of that time was at the Washington State Penitentiary. He developed an interest in the history of this prison as a new officer at the age of twenty-one. From that time on he has collected information on its history, talked to historians, senior staff, visited colleges, and made a trip to Seatco Washington. Now he is seventy years old and has finally been able to keep a promise to an old friend, by writing this book.
Book Details
The Boarding House on The Hill
This is not a book about doing time in a penitentiary. There are plenty of those books available. It is a book about how a penitentiary was established for the State of Washington. The history of this prison, once called “The Palace in the Wilderness,” and its relationship with the city of Walla Walla is unlike anything you might expect. The inmates came from a place they called hell on earth. To a new prison built in a wheat field. Witness the Politics, the disagreements, the fight to keep inmates working, the first homicide, and the story behind the warden’s suicide. If it leaves you to wonder. What is the true history, and what has been lost to interpretation over time. Then I invite you to read this book.