Entering San Quentin for the first time at the turn of the 20th century as a prisoner would likely have been a terrifying experience for most 19th century women. The prison was infamous for its brutal treatment of inmates and for its extremely poor conditions. Below is a partial description of the women’s quarters of the Prison from a book titled Crime and Criminals.”

“A door opens from an office, and you enter a place that looks for all the world like a bear pit, with its thick, gray walls on four sides and cement floor. This pit, by actual measurement, is 60 ft. by 90. Out of this oblong a building, 40 by 20, is taken; so, if you are good at figures, you can see just what room is allowed for clothes lines, exercise, garbage cans, etc. The feet of these poor women never touch the ground of mother earth, and all exercise, which is optional, has to be taken on this cement floor. Midway in the place is the hopper, and on the other side hang the thirty or forty buckets used in the cells from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. Opposite stand the immense garbage cans, and, as they have no covers, the aroma that greets the olfactory nerves is indeed overwhelming. No benches, whereon one might sit to get the sun, are in the pen, and the matron will not allow the women to carry out a chair; so, if one must have a little sun and air, the only alternative is to squat on the stairs leading out of the yard to the cells, or sit on the cement flat and let one’s feet hang down. Either plan is conducive to sorry comfort, helping the rheumatism and stiffness of joints so much in evidence among the inmates. Why cannot the warden allow a few benches to be placed along the gray walls?’ was asked many times, and the reply was that seats would injure the cement! Never mind the women. They are here for punishment; and I can add feelingly that no stone was left unturned to see that they got all that was coming to them.

“The hopper referred to deserves a special article.It is situated in the laundry room, and is an oldfashioned thing, about eighteen inches in diameter. Into this must go the contents of the buckets I have mentioned, and as this deposit must take place as soon as the women are dressed, the scene that follows beggars description. There were two large holes in the floor of this laundry, and as the filth from human bodies accumulated and overflowed the hopper, a stream ran into these holes and this filth flowed, under the dining-room and kitchen, out under an office, emitting a stench that finally attracted the attention of some officer. The matter was then remedied slightly, but the vile conditions of the hopper remain.

“The pen, or pit, is also the playground at night of an ever increasing army of the most gigantic rats, and the stairs, platforms and yard bore unmistakable evidence of their nocturnal ramblings. As the women emerged from their cells in the early morning they reminded one of cave-dwellers, and the agility which had to be used to clear away these remembrances of his ratship was something long to be remembered. They also invaded the kitchen and pantry, and mute evidence of their presence was often seen in the beans, rice and other foods, if the cook was not careful. Try, if you can, to imagine the air in such a place. Small wonder that the health gives way, and that tuberculosis, rheumatism, sore throat and kindred diseases are prevalent; while the only remedies are a handful of calomel at night, and a dose of salts in the morning, ladled out by the wholesale to the miserable creatures.

These were the conditions that greeted Laura Scott when she arrived at San Quentin Prison. She spent every day and night from August 8, 1905 until her June 8, 1906 discharge sleeping in one of fifteen 7 by 10 foot cells perhaps with one or two other women crowded together. Her cell would have included: “Old-fashioned wooden bedsteads, with boards for springs, [that] are covered with hard straw ticks and heavy gray blankets.” She would have had to roll up her coat for a pillow or “collect enough cotton flannel pieces from the floor of the sewing-room to form one.”

Laura Scott was one tough lady though. Not much seems to have rattled her. In March 1905, a man named Frank McVeigh hit Laura over the head with an ax almost cracking her skull. She went to the police station to give her statement about what transpired and then calmly walked out still bleeding. An account of the incident appeared in the March 13 1905 edition of the Los Angeles Herald under the headline: “Negress' Head Too Hard Even For Ax: Racial Characteristic of Skull Probably Saves Woman From Fatal Injury.” Putting aside the supreme racism of the headline, it paints an incredible portrait, doesn’t it? Below is the entire article which gives us incredible insight into who Laura Scott was:

Because she asked him to repay a small sum of money which he had borrowed from her a few nights previous, Laura Scott, a negress, who lives on San Pedro street, was made the victim of an assault by Frank McVeigh, also a negro. That she was not instantly killed was due as much to the racial characteristic of a thick skull as to anything else, for McVeigh hit her on the head with a heavy hand ax and succeeding in cutting a deep gash from which the blood flowed freely.

According to the story told to the officers by the Scott woman, McVeigh borrowed some money from her a few nights ago, and promised to give it back Tuesday. Last night, when she went for the money, the woman found that McVeigh had gone to 131 Central avenue. Thinking to get her money before it was all spent for liquor, the woman followed McVeigh to the Central avenue place and found him there. When she asked for her money McVeigh seized a hand ax and hit her over the head with it.

McVeigh says the Scott woman has been persecuting him for some time and that the blow he dealt her on the head was only to warn her that he was not to be bothered.

The pair was taken to police headquarters and McVeigh locked behind bars. Although she had been hit a powerful blow and the scalp had been cut open the Scott woman did not lose consciousness for an instant, and after she gave her testimony to the desk sergeant walked out of the station as though nothing unusual had occurred.

This gives a new meaning to the term hard-headed. Could this incident be the culprit for that scar above her left eyebrow that I referenced in a previous post? We can only speculate…

Note: Based on suggestions from a couple of readers, I will be posting the installments of Laura’s story on a regular schedule. They will usually appear on Fridays. Thanks for the good suggestion and thanks for reading.