Alcatraz

Alcatraz is a twelve-acre rocky island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. The prison located there was named after the island, which lent the prison its well-known nickname of “The Rock.” Getting to the island requires a one-mile ferry ride from San Francisco's Fisherman Wharf. The Spanish discovered the island in 1775 and called it “Isla de los Alcatraces,” which means “Island of the Pelicans.” The United States Army began using the island as a post in 1850. Amilitary prison established on it in 1863 was used as a Union prison for Confederate sympathizers during the Civil War.

In 1933, Attorney General Homer Cummings (1870–1956) envisioned the need for a special facility to house high-risk federal prisoners—“the worst of the worst,” according to J. Edgar Hoover (1895–1972), head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at the time. Alcatraz's isolated location offered the distinct advantage of making it difficult for imprisoned racketeers to stay in contact with their minions. The Army officially transferred ownership of the island to the U.S. Department of Justice in 1933 for use by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Alcatraz began operations as a U.S. penitentiary in 1934.

Alcatraz was thought to be escape-proof because a successful break would require an inmate to swim [Page 9]a mile across cold, rough water to reach the mainland. The more notorious inmates included Al Capone (1899–1947), George “Machine Gun” Kelly (1895–1954), and Robert Stroud (1890–1963). Stroud, who raised and studied birds in his cell at Leavenworth Prison, became known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz,” after being transferred there in 1942.

Inmates were not paroled directly from Alcatraz; they could earn a transfer to another federal penitentiary to serve out their term. Most notorious inmates with lengthy sentences, such as Capone and Kelly, were eventually transferred to federal facilities with medical wards where they died.

The possibility of an escape from Alcatraz has captured many imaginations. The waters surrounding the island are forty-five to fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit, with currents between three and five knots. Of the thirty-six men involved in fourteen attempts during the prison's history, five disappeared, six were shot and killed, two drowned, and twenty-three were captured. The most famous of these escapes was engineered by Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin on June 11, 1962. The three were never found and are believed to have drowned.

Partial text of letter smuggled by an unknown prisoner on Alcatraz to the San Francisco Call Bulletin, complaining about conditions on the island.

The federal maximum security facility at Alcatraz was three times more expensive to operate than any other federal prison, and it was closed in 1963 and replaced by a new facility in Marion, Illinois. At one time, the island was considered as a site for a university campus or casino complex. Beginning in 1969, Native Americans occupied the island for eighteen months, claiming it as sovereign land. In 1972, the island was turned over to the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It was opened to the public in 1973. It remains a popular tourist destination and is a venue for special events, including an annual triathlon.

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