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Through our Q&AZ reporting
project, a listener asked KJZZ to explain the story behind Yuma High School’s
mascot. As it turns out, despite the connotations associated with their
namesake, Yuma’s students, staff and alumni are proud to call themselves
criminals.
The school was founded in 1909, three years before Arizona became a
state. It started with four teachers and 12 graduating seniors. Soon
after, the school moved to the abandoned Yuma Territorial Prison, where class
was taught in the cell block area and assemblies were held in the prison hospital.
Eric Patten works for the Yuma Union High School District. He said
during those early years, Yuma’s athletes beat a Phoenix football team in an
upset. “And after the game several of the Phoenix players said that the Yuma
kids stole the game like a bunch of criminals," Patten said. "For
about two years, those were kind of fighting words for the Yuma athletes and
that nickname sort of spread.”
A few years later, the school took a once offensive nickname and turned
it into what Patten calls “a badge of honor.”
“The community 100% embraces the nickname and because the school’s been
around for so long — you know, we’re on the 110th anniversary this year —
there’s criminals all over the nation," he said.
Some criminal alums even come back to buy merchandise from the student
store, appropriately named “The Cell Block.”
Wikipedia had
this little tidbit to add: Yuma Union thus
became the only high school in the US to use the mascot; it is also the only
high school in the United States whose mascot is copyrighted. References
are sprinkled throughout; the mascot wears a blue-and-white prison uniform, the
gate to the school's sports fields includes bars from the old prison, and the
school's "Cell Block" shop sells themed apparel.
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Today was a beautiful day
to be outside and after weighing our options we decided to follow-up on a
recommendation to eat at the Nellie B Saloon a.k.a. The Desert Bar. Ann Shindorf had sent me a link to it when
she found out we were going to be near Parker.
The Nellie B is just outside of Parker which is about 45 miles
away. Cool place, good food, way out in
the desert on a twisty road that’s kind of bumpy, she said.
Ann told me...the website
warned that you shouldn’t attempt this in a car; that a jeep, truck or ATV
would be more useful...there were signs indicating that the road was not
regularly maintained and we still weren’t prepared for the ride that awaited
us. I doubt that road has ever seen
maintenance except by Mother Nature and vehicles that have gone before us. And
I think coming back out was worse than going in, if that’s possible. The only vehicles I saw that appeared to be
moving with any speed were dirt bikes.
The site of a former mining camp is now the
home of the Nellie B Saloon. It’s only open on the weekends from noon to 6,
from October through April. Closed for
the heat of the summer.
We left camp about 11:30
and were on the bumpy portion of the road about 12:45. People were already coming back out so I
figured that the food had a quick turnaround time...Kim figured it was people
just coming back out because it was too full.
He was right. It didn’t have
anything to do with food at that point...they were heading out because of a
very full parking lot. By the time we
got there some people had already eaten and were heading to their vehicles so
it just required some patience and a bit of driving skill to be in the right
place at the right time. At some point you just have to commit and accept that
there’s going to be some waiting.
Anyway, it was 5 miles of
very rough road...then it was 10 minutes or so of circling a very tight parking
lot before we found a spot that had just been vacated... and then it was
waiting in line for almost 1 ½ hours to get food. That’s right...1 ½ hours. We’d made it this far and weren’t going to
leave without eating. Thankfully we’d
eaten a late breakfast. I saved a table
while Kim stood in line. Figured it didn’t
make sense for both of us to stand in line and then not have a table. There is no wait staff...you find your own
table, you order your own food and you clean up after yourself...at least on
the lower level. It’s a system that
works well because it was very busy and the area was very clean. Oh, and no beer on tap, just cold beer in cans.
What I found interesting
was the amount of chatter...I chalk that up to the fact that cell service was
non-existent (at least Verizon) so no one had their heads in their phones. People were talking to each other. 😊 And no cell/internet service might be
why it’s a cash only affair. It has two
levels with a live band and seating on the main floor and extra seating on a lower
level. The main floor had a huge bank of
solar panels providing shade...lower level open was to the weather. I was lucky
enough to get a table with a shade umbrella on the lower level. By the time we left clouds had rolled in but
it was sunny when we arrived.
It was a fun and unique experience
and I’m glad we had the time to do it.
Probably wouldn’t do it again, though...unless they paved the road. 😏
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Tomorrow we pack up and move east to Picacho,
our home for the month of March. Kim
will be able to get his telescopes out and we’ll also be able to do some
riding. In mid-March my mom is flying
out to hang out for a couple of weeks and then ride home with us. New experiences abound on this year’s
adventure.
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