Alcatraz, also known as “the rock”, is an island off the coast of San Francisco. It started out as military base and later on was used as a prison. It held many famous criminals that were usually but not always sent there for misbehaving at the first prison they were sent to. This paper will talk about the prior uses for the island of Alcatraz, the notable people that served their time in the prison, the escape attempts that were made, and what the island is used for today. In 1850 Alcatraz Island was set aside specifically for military purposes. When the American Civil war broke out, cannons were mounted along the perimeter of the island but were only used in defense. Also during this time, the island was used for storage of firearms to prevent them falling into the hands of Confederate sympathizers. Because of the location of the island, Alcatraz was used to house Civil War prisoners beginning in 1861. The Spanish-American war increased the prison population from 26 to over 450 in 1898. Many renovations were to done to the prison over time, to increase the number of people that could be housed there. In 1933 the fortress was deactivated as a military prison, which created the opportunity for the island to become a federal prison. From the 1930’s- 1960's, Alcatraz was America’s leading maximum-security prison, the final stop for the nation's most persistent inmates. Al Capone and Robert Stroud “the Bird Man of Alcatraz” are considered two of the most famous inmates to ever occupy a cell at Alcatraz.
Al Capone was known as one of the biggest mob bosses of all time. “Before arriving at Alcatraz, Capone had been a master at manipulating his environment at the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta. Despite strict convictions from the courts, Capone was always able to persuade his keepers into procuring his every whim, and often dictated his own privileges” (“Alcatraz history,”). Capone was known to have much nicer things than the other inmates because of the way to he could convince the guards to get him virtually anything he wanted. Robert Stroud was known as the birdman because of his love for birds and because he took care of them at a previous facility that he was in before Alcatraz. He was not allowed to keep his birds when he was transported to Alcatraz, but he nickname still stuck. “In the 29 years Alcatraz prison was open, there were 14 escape attempts. Those attempts included 36 prisoners and none were considered successful” (“Alcatraz the Rock”). One of the more interesting attempts happened on December 16, 1937; two men who were working in their assigned wing of the prison filed their way through a bar on a window and escaped the prison. There happened to be a really bad storm that night and the inmates were never seen again. They were both presumed missing and dead, but the fact that their bodies were never found shows that there may be a chance that one if not both of them made it to freedom alive.
One of the simplest but yet most ingenious attempts came from a man named John Giles. He was a very well behaved inmate that was not expected to attempt to escape. He had a job at the loading dock and one day was unloading army uniforms and he kept one uniform for himself, disguising himself with it. He walked right on the army launch with no immediate problems but within minutes was discovered missing. Also, the boat was not going to San Francisco like he had hoped and as soon as it reached Angel Island he was discovered and sent directly back to Alcatraz.
One of the most famous escape attempts occurred in 1962. Three men vanished from their cells in the middle of the night. After investigation it was realized that over time the men had been digging a hole in the wall and had been planning their escape for months. Only one of the three men’s bodies was found later on, the other two were presumed missing and drowned.
Because the penitentiary cost more to run than others did, it was closed down in 1963. Today, Alcatraz is one of San Francisco’s most prominent landmarks and tourist attractions. There have been proposals to level the island and build something new, but the people want to keep this piece of history around as long as they can. Tickets are sold for tours today so people to see the prison-turned-museum and learn about the history of Alcatraz.