Tour The Scariest Haunt In Wyoming [VIDEO]

Phil Leichtweis

It was the baddest of the bad when it came to prisons. Alcatraz and Sing Sing had nothing on the Wyoming Frontier Prison in Rawlins, Wyoming. If you dare, you can be their guest on Halloween. But don’t be so quick to say yes until you learn about this prison’s history, and think about the spirits who died there and some say, remain to this day.

According to their website, the Wyoming Frontier Prison has been “in lockdown since 1901.”  For Halloween, Saturday, October 31^st, live the horror, as “The Demons Present Scary Stories”.

This historic prison officially opened their doors, and their cells in December of 1901, being the state’s first state penitentiary, that originally had 104 jail cells known as “Cell Block A,” with no running water or electricity, and very little heat.  According to the Wyoming Frontier Prison, a bloated 13,500 inmates overcrowded this institution overall, including eleven women.

The prison eventually expanded, adding a “Cell Block B,” and in 1966, the addition of “Cell Block C,” that only added thirty-six cells that were used for the worse criminal cases.  If discipline was an issue, the Wyoming Frontier Prison had no problem showing the difficult who was boss with severe disciplinary tactics; from solitary confinement, being tossed into their dungeon, even a “punishment pole,” where unruly inmates were handcuffed to the pole and brutally beaten with rubber hoses.

They also handed down 14 death sentences that were carried out, first by what’s called the “traveling Julien Gallows,” the same method that was used to hang Tom Horn in 1916, eventually turning into an indoor Julien Gallows.  By 1936, death by hanging was replaced by a gas chamber where, in later years, five inmates were executed with this method.

In 1981, after 80 brutal years of prisoners serving “hard time,” the doors were closed on this “slammer” and the prison sat abandoned until 1987, when Hollywood re-opened those jail cells to film a movie called “Prison,” one of the first films starring Viggo Mortensen that, according to IMDb, was about “The spirit of a long-dead prisoner” who gets his revenge by haunting the new governor of the prison.

By 1988 the Wyoming Frontier Prison was added to The National Registry of Historic Places, and countless people have been touring the facility every year.

This special Halloween tour isn’t for the faint of heart, and is not recommended for anyone under the age of 12.  You’ll be climbing some very steep stairs on this tour, therefore, it’s not handicap accessible.  There’s also flashing lights and sounds as well as possibly being touched by one of the “spirits,” so be warned!  If you’re pregnant, or you’ve recently been injured or had surgery, you’re asked to use extreme caution!

The “Demons Presents Scary Stories” tour, in cooperation with the Carbon County Visitors Council, will have one last tour night Halloween night, Saturday, October 31^st, with tours given at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm.  (Tours for 10pm, 11pm and 12 midnight are all sold out.)  Cost is $15 per person.  Space is limited and reservations are a MUST!  For more details on this tour, go to Wyoming Frontier Prison, or call 307-324-4422.