“check your baggage?”, 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.

Charles Kelley Yuma Prisoner 1982

Charles Kelley, who while porter for the Hotel Weatherford, in February appropriated a valise belonging to one of the guests, entered a plea of guilty to the charge of burglary and was sentenced to eighteen months in the territorial prison.
Source: The Coconino Sun, Flagstaff, April 18, 1903

Kelley was also arrested for entering the rooms of the guests at the hotel and “purloining articles belonging to them”.

When Arizona was just a territory and vigilantes ruled the dusty streets and trails, in rode John W. Weatherford to Flagstaff.  Having a grand vision for Flagstaff, Weatherford soon began to build what would become known as one of the finest hotels in the West. Opening on New Year’s Day, 1900, the luxurious hotel would attract such visitors as newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst, former President Theodore Roosevelt, and Old West author, Zane Grey, and lawman, Wyatt Earp.
Source: Legends of America

I wonder whose baggage Charles Kelley stole?

See all of the Prison Hill series on flickr.