USA Guide
Louisiana
Angola Prison
Isolated at the end of the long and lonely Hwy-60, hemmed in by the Tunica foothills and the Mississippi River some sixty miles northwest of Baton Rouge, Angola – or "the farm" as it is commonly known – is the most famous maximum-security prison in the United States, its very name a byword for brutality and desperation. Famous inmates have included blues singer Leadbelly, who, as Huddy Ledbetter, served here in the 1930s; today it holds about five thousand prisoners, 77 percent of whom are black. Most of the men are lifers, and around a hundred of them are on Death Row. Outside the main gate, the Angola Museum (Tues– Fri 8am–4.30pm, Sat 9am–5pm; free) offers a fascinating insight into this unhappy place. Fading photos and old newspapers reveal appalling prison conditions; the prodding sticks and belts used to beat convicts bring it closer to home.
Since 1970, Angola has staged a prisoner rodeo every Sunday in October, an unsettling gladiatorial spectacle which draws thousands (there is also a two-day rodeo in April; both $10; reservations required; 
225/655-2030, 
angolarodeo.com ). These are extraordinary affairs, the crowds baying while lifers are flung, gored, or trampled in their struggle for glory or maybe just a simple change of scene.