A Trip to the Pen

On Sunday Chester, Jane and I made the northern trek to the Louisiana State Penitentiary aka Angola Prison aka "Alcatraz of the South" aka "The Farm". Unfortunately I GREATLY underestimated the length of the line waiting to get into the rodeo and we sat in traffic for an hour and a half before getting through the gates. This delay cut into how much actual rodeo we were able to see, but I managed to snap a few photos of the events we saw.

 Two big ol' buffalo

Those same buffalo + a one armed cowboy on a horse are on TOP of that cattle trailer in the middle of the arena!

Inmates attempting to retrieve a chip off of the head of the white bull in the "Guts & Glory" event. The fella who succeed was the record holder with 19 snatches (it is unknown how long this inmate has been there or how many rodeos he has participated in) and was said to be rewarded with $500!

Correctional officers directed us to the trail of vehicles being routed to the outskirts of the prison's property. I had no idea that the place was so large! There are hundreds of cows roaming around in the fields.

 Another shot from far out of the prison.

Some Angola information:

• 6400 (ish) all male inmates to 1800 (ish) staff members
• 18000 acres bordered by the mighty Mississippi on three sides
• Mostly consists of dormitories (as opposed to cell blocks)
• Houses death row inmates
• Includes a several manufacturing facilities:
• Farm Warehouse: distributes agricultural supplies
• Mattress/Broom/Mop shop
• Printing shop: prints documents, forms, etc.
• Range Herd: managers 2000+ head of cattle
• Row Crops: harvests crops including cabbage, corn, cotton, okra, onions, peppers, soybeans, squash, tomatoes, and wheat 
• Silk-Screen group: produces plates, badges, road & highway signs, and textiles
• Tag Plant: makes licenses plates for Louisiana residents & overseas customers
• Tractor Repair shop: repairs agricultural equipment
• Transportation Division: delivers the manufactured goods
• 9 hole, 72 par golf course on the grounds (not for use by inmates)
• Has an inmate run radio station (KLSP 91.7FM) as well as a bi-monthly publication, The Angolite.