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A Brief History
         of Alcatraz
Before the Prison
The name Alcatraz is derived from the Spanish "Alcatraces." In 1775, the
Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala was the first to sail into what is
now known as San Francisco Bay - his expedition mapped the bay and named
one of the three islands Alcatraces. Over time, the name was Anglicized
to Alcatraz. While the exact meaning is still debated, Alcatraz is
usually defined as meaning "pelican" or "strange bird."
In 1850, a presidential order set aside the island for possible use as a
United States military reservation. The California Gold Rush, the
resulting boom in the growth of San Francisco, and the need to protect
San Francisco Bay led the U.S. Army to build a Citadel, or fortress, at
the top of the island in the early 1850s. The Army also made plans to
install more than 100 cannons on the island, making Alcatraz the most
heavily fortified military site on the West Coast. Together with Fort
Point and Lime Point, Alcatraz formed a "triangle of defense" designed
to protect the entrance to the bay. The island was also the site of the
first operational lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States.
By the late 1850s, the first military prisoners were being housed on the
island. While the defensive necessity of Alcatraz diminished over time
(the island never fired its guns in battle), its role as a prison would
continue for more than 100 years. In 1909, the Army tore down the
Citadel, leaving its basement level to serve as the foundation for a new
military prison. From 1909 through 1911, the military prisoners on
Alcatraz built the new prison, which was designated the Pacific Branch,
U.S. Disciplinary Barracks for the U.S. Army. It was this prison
building that later became famous as "The Rock."
The Rock
The U.S. Army used the island for more than 80 years--from 1850 until
1933, when the island was transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice
for use by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Federal Government had
decided to open a maximum-security, minimum-privilege penitentiary to
deal with the most incorrigible inmates in Federal prisons, and to show
the law-abiding public that the Federal Government was serious about
stopping the rampant crime of the 1920s and 1930s.
USP Alcatraz was not the "America s Devil s Island" that many books and
movies portray. The average population was only about 260-275 (the
prison never once reached its capacity of 336 - at any given time,
Alcatraz held less than 1 percent of the total Federal prison
population). Many prisoners actually considered the living conditions
(for instance, always one man to a cell) at Alcatraz to be better than
other Federal prisons, and several inmates actually requested a transfer
to Alcatraz.
Birdman
The island s most famous prisoner was probably Robert Stroud, the
so-called "Birdman of Alcatraz." In reality, Stroud never had any birds
at Alcatraz, nor was he the grandfatherly person portrayed by Burt
Lancaster in the well-known movie. In 1909, Stroud was convicted of
manslaughter; while serving his prison sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary
(USP), McNeil Island, Washington, he viciously attacked another inmate.
This resulted in his transfer to USP Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1916, he
murdered a Leavenworth guard, was convicted of first-degree murder, and
received a death sentence. His mother pleaded for his life, and in 1920,
President Woodrow Wilson commuted the death sentence to life
imprisonment.
It was Stroud s violent behavior that earned him time in segregation.
During his 30 years at Leavenworth, he developed his interest in birds
and eventually wrote two books about canaries and their diseases.
Initially, prison officials allowed Stroud s bird studies because it was
seen as a constructive use of his time. However, contraband items were
often found hidden in the bird cages, and prison officials discovered
that equipment Stroud had requested for his "scientific" studies had
actually been used to construct a still for "home-brew." Stroud was
transferred to Alcatraz in 1942, where he spent the next 17 years (6
years in segregation in "D Block" and 11 years in the prison hospital).
In 1959, he was transferred to the Medical Center for Federal prisoners
in Springfield, Missouri, where he died on November 21, 1963.
Prison Life
While several well-known criminals, such as Al Capone, George
"Machine-Gun" Kelly, Alvin Karpis (the first "Public Enemy #1"), and
Arthur "Doc" Barker, did time on Alcatraz, most of the 1,576 prisoners
incarcerated there were not well-known gangsters, but prisoners who
refused to conform to the rules and regulations at other Federal
institutions, who were considered violent and dangerous, or who were
considered escape risks. Alcatraz served as the prison system s prison -
if a man did not behave at another institution, he could be sent to
Alcatraz, where the highly structured, monotonous daily routine was
designed to teach an inmate to follow rules and regulations.
At Alcatraz, a prisoner had four rights: food, clothing, shelter, and
medical care. Everything else was a privilege that had to be earned.
Some privileges a prisoner could earn included working, corresponding
with and having visits from family members, access to the prison
library, and recreational activities such as painting and music. Once
prison officials felt a man no longer posed a threat and could follow
the rules (usually after an average of five years on Alcatraz), he could
then be transferred back to another Federal prison to finish his
sentence and be released.
Escape Attempts
There were, however, prisoners who decided not to wait for a transfer to
another prison. Over the 29 years (1934-1963) that the Federal prison
operated, 36 men (including two who tried to escape twice) were involved
in 14 separate escape attempts. Of these, 23 were caught, 6 were shot
and killed during their escape, and 2 drowned. Two of the men who were
caught were later executed in the gas chamber at the California State
Prison at San Quentin for their role in the death of a correctional
officer during the famous May 2-4, 1946, "Battle of Alcatraz" escape
attempt.
Whether or not anyone succeeded in escaping from Alcatraz depends on the
definition of "successful escape." Is it getting out of the cellhouse,
reaching the water, making it to land, or reaching land and not getting
caught? Officially, no one ever succeeded in escaping from Alcatraz,
although to this day there are five prisoners listed as "missing and
presumed drowned."
Following are summaries of the 14 escape attempts:
April 27, 1936 - While working his job burning trash at the incinerator,
Joe Bowers began climbing up and over the chain link fence at the
island s edge. After refusing orders to climb back down, Bowers was shot
by a correctional officer stationed in the West road guard tower, then
fell about 50-100 feet to the shore below. He died from his injuries.
December 16, 1937 - While working in the mat shop in the model
industries building, Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe had, over a period of
time, filed their way through the flat iron bars on a window. After
climbing through the window, they made their way down to the water s
edge and disappeared into San Francisco Bay. This attempt occurred
during a bad storm and the Bay s currents were especially fast and
strong - most people believe Roe and Cole were swept out to sea.
Officially, they are listed missing and presumed dead.
May 23, 1938 - While at work in the woodworking shop in the model
industries building, James Limerick, Jimmy Lucas, and Rufus Franklin
attacked unarmed correctional officer Royal Cline with a hammer (Cline
died from his injuries). The three then climbed to the roof in an
attempt to disarm the correctional officer in the roof tower. The
officer, Harold Stites, shot Limerick and Franklin. Limerick died from
his injuries. Lucas and Franklin received life sentences for Cline s
murder.
January 13, 1939 - Arthur "Doc" Barker, Dale Stamphill, William Martin,
Henry Young, and Rufus McCain escaped from the isolation unit in the
cellhouse by sawing through the flat iron cell bars and bending
tool-proof bars on a window. They then made their way down to the
water s edge. Correctional officers found the men at the shoreline on
the west side of the island. Martin, Young, and McCain surrendered,
while Barker and Stamphill were shot when they refused to surrender.
Barker died from his injuries.
May 21, 1941 - Joe Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Arnold Kyle, and Lloyd
Barkdoll took several correctional officers hostage while working in the
industries area. The officers, including Paul Madigan (who later became
Alcatraz s third warden), were able to convince the four that they could
not escape and they surrendered.
September 15, 1941 - While on garbage detail, John Bayless attempted to
escape. He gave up shortly after entering the cold water of San
Francisco Bay. Later, while appearing in Federal court in San Francisco,
Bayless tried, again unsuccessfully, to escape from the courtroom.
April 14, 1943 - James Boarman, Harold Brest, Floyd Hamilton, and Fred
Hunter took two officers hostage while at work in the industries area.
The four climbed out a window and made their way down to the water s
edge. One of the hostages was able to alert other officers to the escape
and shots were fired at Boarman, Brest, and Hamilton, who were swimming
away from the island. Hunter and Brest were both apprehended. Boarman
was hit by gunfire and sank below the water before officers were able to
reach him; his body was never recovered. Hamilton was initially presumed
drowned. However, after hiding out for two days in a small shoreline
cave, Hamilton made his way back up to the industries area, where he was
discovered by correctional officers.
August 7, 1943 - Huron "Ted" Walters disappeared from the prison laundry
building. He was caught at the shoreline, before he could even attempt
to enter San Francisco Bay.
July 31, 1945 - In one of the most ingenious attempts, John Giles was
able to take advantage of his job working at the loading dock, where he
unloaded army laundry sent to the island to be cleaned - over time, he
stole an entire army uniform. Dressed in the uniform, Giles calmly
walked aboard an army launch to what he thought was freedom. He was
discovered missing almost immediately. Unfortunately for Giles, the
launch was headed for Angel Island, not San Francisco as Giles hoped. As
Giles set foot on Angel Island, he was met by correctional officers who
returned him to Alcatraz.
May 2-4, 1946 - During this incident, known as the "Battle of Alcatraz"
and the "Alcatraz Blastout," six prisoners were able to overpower
cellhouse officers and gain access to weapons and cellhouse keys, in
effect taking control of the cellhouse. Their plan began to fall apart
when the inmates found they did not have the key to unlock the
recreation yard door. Shortly thereafter, prison officials discovered
the escape attempt. Instead of giving up, Bernard Coy, Joe Cretzer,
Marvin Hubbard, Sam Shockley, Miran Thompson, and Clarence Carnes
decided to fight. Eventually Shockley, Thompson, and Carnes returned to
their cells, but not before the officers taken hostage were shot at
point-blank range by Cretzer (encouraged by Shockley and Thompson). One
officer, William Miller, died from his injuries. A second officer,
Harold Stites (who stopped the third escape attempt), was shot and
killed attempting to regain control of the cellhouse. About 18 officers
were injured during the escape attempt. The U.S. Marines were eventually
called out to assist, and on May 4, the escape attempt ended with the
discovery of the bodies of Coy, Cretzer, and Hubbard. Shockley,
Thompson, and Carnes stood trial for the death of the officers; Shockley
and Thompson received the death penalty and were executed in the gas
chamber at San Quentin in December 1948. Carnes, age 19, received a
second life sentence.
July 23, 1956 - Floyd Wilson disappeared from his job at the dock. After
hiding for several hours among large rocks along the shoreline, he was
discovered and surrendered.
September 29, 1958 - While working on the garbage detail, Aaron Burgett
and Clyde Johnson overpowered a correctional officer and attempted to
swim from the island. Johnson was caught in the water, but Burgett
disappeared. An intensive search turned up nothing. Burgett s body was
found floating in the Bay two weeks later.
June 11, 1962 - Made famous by Clint Eastwood in the movie Escape from
Alcatraz, Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin vanished
from their cells and were never seen again. A fourth man, Allen West,
believed by some people to have been the mastermind, was also involved;
however, he was still in his cell the next morning when the escape was
discovered. An investigation revealed an intricate escape plot that
involved homemade drills to enlarge vent holes, false wall segments, and
realistic dummy heads (complete with human hair) placed in the beds so
the inmates would not be missed during nighttime counts. The three men
exited through vent holes located in the rear wall of their cell - they
had enlarged the vent holes and made false vent/wall segments to conceal
their work. Behind the rear wall of the cells is a utility corridor that
had locked steel doors at either end. The three men climbed the utility
pipes to the top of the cellblock, and gained access to the roof through
an air vent (the men had previously bent the iron bars that blocked the
air vent). They then climbed down a drainpipe on the northern end of the
cellhouse and made their way to the water. It is believed they left from
the northeast side of the island near the powerhouse/quartermaster
building. They used prison-issued raincoats to make crude life vests and
a pontoon-type raft to assist in their swim. A cellhouse search turned
up the drills, heads, wall segments, and other tools, while the water
search found two life vests (one in the bay, the other outside the
Golden Gate), oars, and letters and photographs belonging to the Anglins
that had been carefully wrapped to be watertight. But no sign of the men
was found. Several weeks later, a man s body dressed in blue clothing
similar to the prison uniform was found a short distance up the coast
from San Francisco, but the body was too badly deteriorated to be
identified. Morris and the Anglins are officially listed as missing and
presumed drowned.
December 16, 1962 - John Paul Scott and Darl Parker bent the bars of a
kitchen window in the cellhouse basement, climbed out, and made their
way down to the water. Parker was discovered on a small outcropping of
rock a short distance from the island. Scott attempted to swim towards
San Francisco, but the currents began pulling him out to sea. He was
found by several teenagers on the rocks near Fort Point (beneath the
Golden Gate Bridge) and was taken to the military hospital at the
Presidio Army base suffering from shock and hypothermia, before being
returned to Alcatraz.
One of the many myths about Alcatraz is that it was impossible to
survive a swim from the island to the mainland because of sharks. In
fact, there are no "man-eating" sharks in San Francisco Bay, only small
bottom-feeding sharks. The main obstacles were the cold temperature
(averaging 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit), the strong currents, and the
distance to shore (at least 1-1/4 miles). Prior to the Federal
institution opening in 1934, a teenage girl swam to the island to prove
it was possible. Fitness guru Jack LaLanne once swam to the island
pulling a rowboat, and several years ago, two 10-year-old children also
made the swim.
If a person is well-trained and -conditioned, it is possible to survive
the cold waters and fast currents. However, for prisoners - who had no
control over their diet, no weightlifting or physical training (other
than situps and pushups), and no knowledge of high and low tides - the
odds for success were slim.
Alcatraz Closes
On March 21, 1963, USP Alcatraz closed after 29 years of operation. It
did not close because of the disappearance of Morris and the Anglins
(the decision to close the prison was made long before the three
disappeared), but because the institution was too expensive to continue
operating. An estimated $3-5 million was needed just for restoration and
maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include
daily operating costs - Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive
to operate than any other Federal prison (in 1959 the daily per capita
cost at Alcatraz was $10.10 compared with $3.00 at USP Atlanta). The
major expense was caused by the physical isolation of the island - the
exact reason islands have been used as prisons throughout history. This
isolation meant that everything (food, supplies, water, fuel...) had to
be brought to Alcatraz by boat. For example, the island had no source of
fresh water, so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to
the island each week. The Federal Government found that it was more
cost-effective to build a new institution than to keep Alcatraz open.
After the Prison
After the prison closed, Alcatraz was basically abandoned. Many ideas
were proposed for the island, including a monument to the United
Nations, a West Coast version of the Statue of Liberty, and a shopping
center/hotel complex. In 1969, the island again made news when a group
of Native American Indians claimed Alcatraz as Indian land with the hope
of creating a Native American cultural center and education complex on
the island. The "Indians of All Tribes" used their act of civil
disobedience to illustrate the troubles faced by Native Americans.
Initially, public support for the Native Americans cause was strong,
and thousands of people (general public, schoolchildren, celebrities,
hippies, Vietnam war protesters, Hells Angels...) came to the island
over the next 18 months. Unfortunately, the small Native American
leadership group could not control the situation and much damage
occurred (graffiti, vandalism, and a fire that destroyed the lighthouse
keeper s home, the Warden s home, and the Officers Club). In June 1971,
Federal Marshals removed the remaining Native Americans from the island.
In 1972, Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and
Alcatraz Island was included as part of the new National Park Service
unit. The island opened to the public in the fall of 1973 and has become
one of the most popular Park Service sites - more than one million
visitors from around the world visit the island each year.
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