Alcatraz Island is an island located in the
San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) offshore from San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Often referred to as "
The Rock" or simply "
Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a
lighthouseAlcatraz Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse in California,United States, on Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay, California. It is the oldest light station on the U.S...
, a military fortification, a military prison, and a
Federal Bureau of PrisonsThe Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
federal prison until 1963. Beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a group of
American IndiansThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
from San Francisco, who were part of a wave of Indian
activismActivism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
across the nation, with public protests through the 1970s. Later, in 1972, Alcatraz became a national recreation area and received designation as a
National Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1986.
Today, the island's facilities are operated by the
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
as part of the
Golden Gate National Recreation AreaThe Golden Gate National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area administered by the National Park Service that surrounds the San Francisco Bay area. It is one of the most visited units of the National Park system in the United States, with over 13 million visitors a year...
; it is open to tours. Visitors can reach the island by
ferryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
ride from Pier 33, near
Fisherman's WharfFisherman's Wharf is a neighborhood and popular tourist attraction in San Francisco, California. It roughly encompasses the northern waterfront area of San Francisco from Ghirardelli Square or Van Ness Avenue east to Pier 35 or Kearny Street...
in San Francisco. In 2008 the nation's first hybrid propulsion ferry started serving the island. Alcatraz has been
featuredAlcatraz Island has appeared many times in popular culture. Its appeal as a film setting derives from its isolation and its history as a prison from which, officially, no prisoner ever successfully escaped.-Prisoners:...
in many movies, TV shows, cartoons, books, comics, and games.
History
The first Spaniard to document the island was Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775, who charted San Francisco Bay and named the island "La Isla de los Alcatraces," which translates as "The Island of the Pelicans," from the archaic Spanish
alcatraz, "pelican", a word which was borrowed originally from Arabic: القطرس
al-qaṭrās, meaning
sea eagleSea eagle mainly refers to Sea eagle, birds of prey of the genus Haliaeetus.It may also refer to:-Aerospace:* Sea Eagle , British, anti-ship missile* Sea Eagle * Supermarine Sea Eagle, 1920s British passenger flying boat-Sports:...
. In August, 1827 French Captain Auguste Bernard Duhaut-Cilly wrote "...running past Alcatraces (Pelicans) Island...covered with a countless number of these birds. A gun fired over the feathered legions caused them to fly up in a great cloud and with a noise like a hurricane." The
California Brown PelicanThe Brown Pelican is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is in length, weighs from and has a wingspan from .-Range and habits:...
(
Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) is not known to nest on the island today. In modern Spanish, the word
alcatraz stands for
gannetGannets are seabirds comprising the genus Morus, in the family Sulidae, closely related to the boobies.The gannets are large black and white birds with yellow heads. They have long pointed wings and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, with a wingspan of up...
.
The
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
defines the island as Block 1067, Block Group 1,
Census TractA census tract, census area, or census district is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Usually these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exist within a county...
179.02 of San Francisco County, California. There was no permanent population on the island as of the
2000 censusThe Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
.
It is home to the now-abandoned
prisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, the site of the oldest operating
lighthouseA lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
on the
west coast of the United StatesWest Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, early military
fortificationFortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
s, and natural features such as rock pools, a
seabirdSeabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
colony (mostly
Western GullThe Western Gull, Larus occidentalis, is a large white-headed gull that lives on the western coast of North America. It was previously considered conspecific, the same species, with the Yellow-footed Gull of the Gulf of California...
s,
cormorantThe bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
s, and
egretAn egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets...
s), and unique views of the coastline.
Military history
The earliest recorded owner of the island of Alcatraz is one Julian Workman, to whom it was given by
MexicanThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
governor
Pio PicoPío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...
in June 1846 with the understanding that the former would build a lighthouse on it. Julian Workman is the baptismal name of
William WorkmanThe Workman-Temple family relates to the pioneer interconnected Workman and Temple families that were prominent in: the history of colonial Pueblo de Los Angeles and American Los Angeles; the Los Angeles Basin and San Gabriel Valley regions; and Southern California — from 1830 to 1930 in Mexican...
, co-owner of
Rancho La PuenteRancho La Puente was a ranch in the eastern San Gabriel Valley that, in its fullest extent, measured just under , and remained intact until about 1870. By modern landmarks, the ranch extended from San Gabriel River on the west to just west of the 57 Freeway on the east and from Ramona...
and personal friend of Pio Pico. Later in 1846, acting in his capacity as Military Governor of California,
John C. FremontJohn Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
, champion of
Manifest DestinyManifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
and leader of the Bear Flag Republic, bought the island for $5000 in the name of the United States government from Francis Temple. In 1850, President
Millard FillmoreMillard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
ordered that Alcatraz Island be set aside specifically for military purposes based upon the U.S. acquisition of California from Mexico following the Mexican-American War. Fremont had expected a large compensation for his initiative in purchasing and securing Alcatraz Island for the U.S. government, but the U.S. government later invalidated the sale and paid Fremont nothing. Fremont and his heirs sued for compensation during protracted but unsuccessful legal battles that extended into the 1890s.
Following the acquisition of California by the United States as a result of the
Treaty of Guadalupe HidalgoThe Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
(1848) which ended the Mexican-American War, and the onset of the
California Gold RushThe California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
the following year, the U.S. Army began studying the suitability of Alcatraz Island for the positioning of coastal batteries to protect the approaches to San Francisco Bay. In 1853, under the direction of Zealous B. Tower, the
Corps of EngineersThe United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
began fortifying the island, work which continued until 1858, eventuating in Fortress Alcatraz. The island's first garrison at Camp Alcatraz, numbering about 200 soldiers and 11 cannons, arrived at the end of that year. When the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
broke out in 1861 the island mounted 85 cannons (increased to 105 cannons by 1866) in casemates around its perimeter, though the small size of the garrison meant only a fraction of the guns could be used at one time. At this time it also served as the San Francisco Arsenal for storage of firearms to prevent them falling into the hands of Southern sympathizers. Alcatraz never fired its guns offensively, though during the war it was used to imprison
ConfederateThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
sympathizers and privateers on the west coast.
Military prison
Due to its isolation from the outside by the cold, strong, hazardous currents of the waters of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz was used to house Civil War prisoners as early as 1861.
Following the war in 1866 the army determined that the fortifications and guns were being rapidly rendered obsolete by advances in military technology. Modernization efforts, including an ambitious plan to level the entire island and construct shell-proof underground magazines and tunnels, were undertaken between 1870 and 1876 but never completed (the so called "parade ground" on the southern tip of the island represents the extent of the flattening effort). Instead the army switched the focus of its plans for Alcatraz from coastal defense to detention, a task for which it was well suited because of its isolation. In 1867 a brick jailhouse was built (previously inmates had been kept in the basement of the guardhouse), and in 1868 Alcatraz was officially designated a long-term detention facility for military prisoners. Among those incarcerated at Alcatraz were some
HopiThe Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
men in the 1870s.
In 1898, the
Spanish-American warThe Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
increased the prison population from 26 to over 450. After the
1906 San Francisco earthquakeThe San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
, civilian prisoners were transferred to Alcatraz for safe confinement. On March 21, 1907, Alcatraz was officially designated as the Western U.S. Military Prison, later
Pacific Branch, U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, 1915. In 1909 construction began on the huge concrete main cell block, designed by Major Reuben Turner, which remains the island's dominant feature. It was completed in 1912. To accommodate the new cell block, the Citadel, a three-story barracks, was demolished down to the first floor, which was actually below ground level. The building had been constructed in an excavated pit (creating a dry "moat") to enhance its defensive potential. The first floor was then incorporated as a basement to the new cell block, giving rise to the popular legend of "dungeons" below the main cell block. The Fortress was deactivated as a military prison in October 1933, and transferred to the Bureau of Prisons.
During
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the prison held conscientious objectors, including
Philip GrosserPhilip Grosser was an anarchist and anti-militarist hailed by Alexander Berkman as "one of [my] finest comrades". He was imprisoned at Alcatraz Island for refusing to be drafted during the first World War...
, who wrote a pamphlet entitled 'Uncle Sam's Devil's Island' about his experiences.
Federal prison
The
United States Disciplinary BarracksThe United States Disciplinary Barracks is a military prison located on Fort Leavenworth, a United States Army post in Kansas....
on Alcatraz was acquired by the
United States Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
on October 12, 1933, and the island became a
Federal Bureau of PrisonsThe Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
federal prison in August 1934. During the 29 years it was in use, the jail held such notable criminals as
Al CaponeAlphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
, Robert Franklin Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz), George "Machine Gun" Kelly,
James "Whitey" BulgerJames Joseph "Whitey" Bulger, Jr. is a former organized crime figure from Boston, Massachusetts.Local folklore depicted Bulger as a Robin Hood-style social bandit dedicated to protecting the neighborhood and its residents. Bulger allegedly masterminded a protection racket targeting drug kingpins...
, Bumpy Johnson,
Rafael Cancel MirandaRafael Cancel Miranda , political activist, is a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and an advocate of Puerto Rican independence. On March 1, 1954, Cancel Miranda together with fellow Nationalists Lolita Lebron, Andres Figueroa Cordero, and Irving Flores Rodriguez entered the United...
(a member of the
Puerto Rican Nationalist PartyThe Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded on September 17, 1922. Its main objective is to work for Puerto Rican Independence.In 1919, José Coll y Cuchí, a member of the Union Party of Puerto Rico, felt that the Union Party was not doing enough for the cause of Puerto Rican independence and he...
who attacked the United States Capitol building in 1954),
Mickey CohenMeyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen was a gangster based in Los Angeles and part of the Jewish Mafia, and also had strong ties to the American Mafia from the 1930s through 1960s.-Early life:...
,
Arthur R. "Doc" BarkerArthur R. "Doc" Barker was an American criminal, the son of Ma Barker and a member of the Barker-Karpis gang along with Alvin Karpis....
and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis (who served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate). It also provided housing for the Bureau of Prison staff and their families.
The majority of the prisoners at Alcatraz had been sent there after causing problems at other prisons.
Escape attempts
During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed no prisoner had successfully escaped. A total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts, two men trying twice; 23 were caught, six were shot and killed during their escape, and three escaped and were never found. The most violent occurred on May 2, 1946 when a failed escape attempt by six prisoners led to the
Battle of AlcatrazThe Battle of Alcatraz, which lasted from May 2–4, 1946, was the result of an unsuccessful escape attempt at Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary. Two guards—William A. Miller and Harold Stites—were killed along with three of the inmates. Eleven guards and one convict were also injured...
.
On June 11, 1962, Frank Morris,
John AnglinJohn William Anglin was an American criminal who took part in the June 1962 Alcatraz escape and was never seen again.- Alcatraz :...
and
Clarence AnglinClarence Anglin was an American criminal who took part in the June 1962 Alcatraz escape and was never seen again.- Early life :...
carried out
one of the most intricate escapes ever devisedThe June 1962 Alcatraz escape was an escape attempt by American criminals Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, Frank Morris, and Allen West from Alcatraz Island, one of the United States' most famous prisons, it is possibly the only successful escape attempt from the prison.- Previous attempts :There...
. Behind the prisoners' cells in Cell Block B (where the escapees were interned) was an unguarded 3 foot (0.9144 m) wide utility corridor. The prisoners chiseled away the moisture-damaged concrete from around an air vent leading to this corridor, using tools such as a metal spoon soldered with silver from a dime and an electric drill improvised from a stolen vacuum cleaner motor. The noise was disguised by accordions played during music hour, and the progress was concealed by false walls which, in the dark recesses of the cells, fooled the guards.
The escape route led up through a fan vent; the prisoners removed the fan and motor, replacing them with a steel grille and leaving a shaft large enough for a prisoner to climb through. Stealing a
carborundumSilicon carbide , also known as carborundum, is a compound of silicon and carbon with chemical formula SiC. It occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite. Silicon carbide powder has been mass-produced since 1893 for use as an abrasive...
abrasive cord from the prison workshop, the prisoners removed the rivets from the grille and substituted dummy rivets made of soap. The escapees also constructed an inflatable raft from several stolen raincoats for the trip to the mainland. Leaving
papier-mâchéPapier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....
dummies in their cells affixed with stolen human hair from the barbershop, they escaped. The prisoners are estimated to have entered
San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
at 10 p.m.
The official investigation by the
FBIThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
was aided by another prisoner, Allen West, who was part of the escapees' group but was left behind (West's false wall kept slipping so he held it into place with cement, which set; when the Anglin brothers (John and Clarence) accelerated the schedule, West desperately chipped away at the wall, but by the time he got out, his companions were gone). Articles belonging to the prisoners (including plywood paddles and parts of the raincoat raft) were discovered on nearby Angel Island. The official report on the escape says the prisoners drowned while trying to reach the mainland in the cold waters of the bay. But there were sightings of the men over the years, and friends and family of Morris and the Anglins claimed to have been receiving postcards written in the men's handwriting.
The
MythBustersMythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
investigated the myth, concluding it is “plausible” that the three survived their intricate escape attempt.
The attempt was the subject of the 1979 film
Escape from AlcatrazEscape from Alcatraz is a 1979 American thriller film, directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood. It dramatizes possibly the only successful escape attempt from the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island. The film co-stars Fred Ward, and also features Patrick McGoohan as the...
with screenplay by Richard Tuggle, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Clint Eastwood as Frank Morris, Jack Thibeau as
Clarence AnglinClarence Anglin was an American criminal who took part in the June 1962 Alcatraz escape and was never seen again.- Early life :...
, and Fred Ward as
John AnglinJohn William Anglin was an American criminal who took part in the June 1962 Alcatraz escape and was never seen again.- Alcatraz :...
. The film implied that the three made it.
Frank Morris and the 1962 escape were examined in a 2011
National Geographic ChannelNational Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
program entitled "Vanished from Alcatraz". According to the newly uncovered official records discussed on the program, a raft was discovered on Angel Island with footprints leading away. Furthermore, there was also a report of a stolen car in the area that night, which could have been used by Morris and the other escapees. However, while confirming these facts, which were hidden from the officials for quite some time, the findings of further investigations remain inconclusive. As a result, the U.S. Marshall’s office is still investigating this case, which will remain open on all three escapees until their 100th birthday.
Notable inmates
Robert Stroud, who was better known to the public as the "Birdman of Alcatraz", was transferred to Alcatraz in 1942. He spent the next seventeen years on "the Rock"—six years in segregation in D Block, and eleven years in the prison hospital. In 1959 he was transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in
SpringfieldSpringfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...
,
MissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, (MCFP Springfield). Although called the Birdman of Alcatraz, Stroud was not allowed to keep birds while incarcerated there.
When
Al CaponeAlphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
arrived on Alcatraz in 1934, prison officials made it clear that he would not be receiving any preferential treatment. While serving his time in Alcatraz, Capone, a master manipulator, had continued running his rackets from behind bars by buying off guards. "Big Al" generated incredible media attention while on Alcatraz though he served just four and a half years of his sentence there before developing symptoms of tertiary syphilis and being transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution at
Terminal IslandTerminal Island is an island located in Los Angeles County, California between Los Angeles Harbor and Long Beach Harbor. Originally a mudflat known to the Spanish as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, and later called Rattlesnake Island, it has officially been Terminal Island since 1918...
in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
George "Machine Gun" KellyGeorge Kelley Barnes , better known as "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster during the prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. His most famous crime was the kidnapping of oil tycoon & businessman Charles Urschel in July 1933 for which he,...
arrived on September 4, 1934. At Alcatraz, Kelly was constantly boasting about several robberies and murders that he had never committed. Although his boasts were said to be tiresome to other prisoners, Warden Johnson considered him a model inmate. Kelly was returned to
LeavenworthThe United States Penitentiary , Leavenworth was the largest maximum security federal prison in the United States from 1903 until 2005. It became a medium security prison in 2005.It is located in Leavenworth, Kansas...
in 1951.
Alvin "Creepy Karpis" KarpowiczAlvin Francis Karpis , nicknamed "Creepy" for his sinister smile, was an American criminal known for his alliance with the Barker gang in the 1930s. He was the last "public enemy" to be taken.-Early life:Karpis was born to Lithuanian immigrants in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and was raised in Topeka,...
arrived in 1936. He constantly fought with other inmates. He spent the longest time on Alcatraz island, serving nearly 26 years. He was convicted for worse crimes than any other inmate. He never attempted an escape.
James “Whitey” Bulger spent three years on Alcatraz (1959–1962) while serving a sentence for
bank robberyBank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank during opening hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of...
. While there, he became close to
Clarence CarnesClarence Victor Carnes known as The Choctaw Kid was a Choctaw Indian famous as the youngest inmate sentenced to Alcatraz, and for his participation in the bloody escape attempt known as the "Battle of Alcatraz".-Early life:Clarence Carnes was born in Daisy, Oklahoma, the oldest of five children...
, also known as the Choctaw Kid.
Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson, the Godfather of Harlem, was an
African-AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
gangster, numbers operator, racketeer, and bootlegger in
New York City'sNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
HarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
neighborhood in the early 20th century. He was sent to Alcatraz in 1954 and was imprisoned until 1963. He was believed to have been involved in the 1962 escape attempt of Frank Morris, John and Clarence Anglin.
Mickey CohenMeyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen was a gangster based in Los Angeles and part of the Jewish Mafia, and also had strong ties to the American Mafia from the 1930s through 1960s.-Early life:...
worked for the Mafia’s gambling rackets; he was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to 15 years in Alcatraz Island. Two years into his sentence, an inmate clobbered Cohen with a lead pipe, partially paralyzing the mobster. After his release in 1972, Cohen led a quiet life with old friends.
Arthur R. "Doc" BarkerArthur R. "Doc" Barker was an American criminal, the son of Ma Barker and a member of the Barker-Karpis gang along with Alvin Karpis....
the son of
Ma BarkerKate "Ma" Barker was the mother of several criminals who ran the Barker gang from the "public enemy era", when the exploits of gangs of criminals in the U.S. Midwest gripped the American people and press...
and a member of the Barker-Karpis gang along with Alvin Karpis. In 1935, Barker was sent to Alcatraz Island on conspiracy to kidnap charges. On the night of January 13, 1939, Barker with
Henri YoungHenri Theodore Young was a prisoner at Alcatraz who attempted to escape with two other inmates, Arthur Barker and Rufus McCain and is best known for being the main character in the movie Murder in the First....
and
Rufus McCainRufus Roy McCain was a prisoner at Alcatraz who attempted escape with Henri Young and Arthur Barker. On the night of January 13, 1939, McCain with Henri Young and Arthur Barker attempted escape from The Rock. The guards started to fire shots at Arthur Barker. Barker eventually died and McCain and...
attempted escape from Alcatraz. Barker was shot and killed by the guards.
Rafael Cancel MirandaRafael Cancel Miranda , political activist, is a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and an advocate of Puerto Rican independence. On March 1, 1954, Cancel Miranda together with fellow Nationalists Lolita Lebron, Andres Figueroa Cordero, and Irving Flores Rodriguez entered the United...
, a member of the
Puerto Rican Nationalist PartyThe Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded on September 17, 1922. Its main objective is to work for Puerto Rican Independence.In 1919, José Coll y Cuchí, a member of the Union Party of Puerto Rico, felt that the Union Party was not doing enough for the cause of Puerto Rican independence and he...
, who attacked the United States Capitol building in 1954. On March 1, 1954, Cancel Miranda together with fellow Nationalists
Lolita LebronDolores "Lolita" Lebrón Sotomayor was a Puerto Rican nationalist who wasconvicted of attempted murder and other crimes after leading an assault on the United States House of Representatives in 1954,...
, Andres Cordero, and Irving Rodriguez entered the United States Capitol building armed with automatic pistols and fired 30 shots, hitting five congressmen, who all survived their wounds.
Post-prison years
Because the penitentiary cost much more to operate than other prisons (nearly $10 per prisoner per day, as opposed to $3 per prisoner per day at Atlanta), and half a century of salt water saturation had severely eroded the buildings,
Attorney GeneralThe United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
Robert F. KennedyRobert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
ordered the penitentiary closed on March 21, 1963. In addition, citizens were increasingly protesting the environmental effects of sewage released into San Francisco Bay from the approximately 250 inmates and 60 Bureau of Prisons families on the island. That year, the
United States PenitentiaryThe United States Penitentiary is a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility located in Southern Precinct, unincorporated Williamson County, Illinois. The facility is located south of Marion, from St. Louis, and from Chicago. It was built in 1963 to replace the Alcatraz prison in San Francisco, which...
in
Marion, IllinoisThe city of Marion is the county seat of Williamson County, Illinois. The 2010 census counted 17,193 residents, making Marion the 25th most populated city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, in Illinois, and the second most populous city in Southern Illinois, outside of the Metro-East, behind...
, on land, opened as the replacement facility for Alcatraz.
Native American occupation
Beginning on November 20, 1969, a group of
Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
called United Indians of All Tribes, mostly college students from San Francisco, occupied the island to protest federal policies related to American Indians. Some of them were children of Indians who had resettled in the city as part of an urbanization program encouraged by the
Bureau of Indian AffairsThe Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
(BIA) from the 1930s to the 1950s. The BIA hoped to give Indians new opportunities in the cities, as many Indian reservations were isolated from job markets.
The occupiers, who stayed on the island for nearly two years, demanded the island's facilities be adapted and new structures built for an Indian education center, ecology center and cultural center. The American Indians claimed the island by provisions of the
Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868)The Treaty of Fort Laramie was an agreement between the United States and the Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brulé bands of Lakota people, Yanktonai Dakota, and Arapaho Nation signed in 1868 at Fort Laramie in the Wyoming Territory, guaranteeing to the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills, and further...
between the U.S. and the Sioux; they said the treaty promised to return all retired, abandoned or out-of-use federal lands to the Native peoples from whom it was acquired. (Note: The Treaty of 1868 stated that all abandoned or unused federal land adjacent to the
Great Sioux ReservationThe Great Sioux Reservation was established in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, and includes all of modern western South Dakota and modern Boyd County, Nebraska...
could be reclaimed by descendants of the Sioux Nation.) Indians of All Tribes then claimed Alcatraz Island by the "Right of Discovery", as indigenous peoples knew it thousands of years before any Europeans had come to North America. Begun by urban Indians of San Francisco, the occupation attracted other Native Americans from across the country, including
American Indian MovementThe American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
(AIM) urban activists from Minneapolis.
The Native Americans demanded reparation for the many treaties broken by the US government and for the lands which were taken from so many tribes. In discussing the Right of Discovery, the
historianA historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Troy R. Johnson states in
The Occupation of Alcatraz Island, that
indigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
knew about Alcatraz at least 10,000 years before any European knew about any part of North America.
Native Americans objected to federal policies such as intense pressure to send their children to boarding schools. They cited the Moqui
HopiThe Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
in 1895, who were held as military prisoners by the US. The U.S. government offered to release the people if they agreed to send their children to U.S. Indian schools. The Hopi refused, believing this would cause their culture to deteriorate and force
assimilationAssimilation may refer to:*Assimilation , a linguistic process by which a sound becomes similar to an adjacent sound...
. The effect of the policy was to break any positive relations the Hopi may have built with the U.S. government.
During the nineteen months and nine days of occupation by the American Indians, several buildings at Alcatraz were damaged or destroyed by fire, including the recreation hall, the Coast Guard quarters and the Warden's home. The origins of the fires are unknown. The U.S. government demolished a number of other buildings (mostly apartments) after the occupation had ended.
GraffitiGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
from the period of Native American occupation are still visible at many locations on the island.
During the occupation, President
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
rescinded the
Indian termination policyIndian termination was the policy of the United States from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. The belief was that Native Americans would be better off if assimilated as individuals into mainstream American society. To that end, Congress proposed to end the special relationship between tribes and the...
, designed by earlier administrations to end federal recognition of tribes and their special relationship with the US government. He established a new
policy of self-determinationNative American self-determination refers to the social movements, legislation, and beliefs by which the tribes in the United States exercise self-governance and decision making on issues that affect their own people...
, in part as a result of the publicity and awareness created by the occupation. The occupation ended on June 11, 1971.
The Alcatraz occupation inspired numerous other political actions by American Indian activists: the seizure of the
Mayflower IIThe Mayflower II is a replica of the 17th century ship Mayflower, celebrated for transporting the Pilgrims to the New World.The replica was built in Devon, England, during 1955–1956, in a collaboration between Englishman Warwick Charlton and Plimoth Plantation, an American museum...
in Boston on Thanksgiving Day 1970; the Indian occupation of
Mount RushmoreMount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
; the
Trail of Broken TreatiesThe Trail of Broken Treaties was a cross-country protest in the United States by American Indian and First Nations organizations that took place in the autumn of 1972...
in 1972, ending in Indian occupation of the Department of Interior headquarters in Washington, DC; the
Wounded Knee IncidentThe Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when about 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation...
at
Pine Ridge Indian ReservationThe Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
in 1973, in which
Oglala LakotaThe Oglala Lakota or Oglala Sioux are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people; along with the Nakota and Dakota, they make up the Great Sioux Nation. A majority of the Oglala live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the eighth-largest Native American reservation in the...
held territory against federal forces for 71 days; and the Longest Walk in 1985.
The occupation of Alcatraz gave many Native Americans a sense of shared pan-Indian identity, as well as renewed purpose about activism and reclaiming their cultures. It is defined as a key movement in their struggle for enforcement of treaty rights, recognition of tribal sovereignty and desire for self-government, and a renewal of American Indian identity. Following a succession of demands at Alcatraz, the U.S. government returned excess, unused land to the
TaosTaos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
,
YakamaThe Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, or simply Yakama Nation , is a Native American group with nearly 10,000 enrolled members, living in Washington. Their reservation, along the Yakima River, covers an area of approximately 1.2 million acres...
,
NavajoThe Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
and
WashoeThe Washoe are a Great Basin tribe of Native Americans, living in California and Nevada. The name "Washoe" is derived from the autonym waashiw meaning "people from here" in the Washo language .-Territory:Washoe people have lived in the Great Basin for at least the last 6000 years...
tribes.
In 2011 a permanent multimedia exhibit was opened on Alcatraz examining the 19-month occupation. Located in the former band practice room in a cellblock in the basement, the space serves as the cultural center the Native American occupiers requested upon their occupation. The exhibit, called "We Are Still Here," features photos, videos and sound recordings gathered by staff and students at
San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
and
California State University, East BayCalifornia State University, East Bay is a public university located in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The university, as part of the 23-campus California State University system, offers over 100 areas of study...
. Curators of the exhibit interviewed descendents of occupation leader
Richard OakesRichard Oakes was a Mohawk Native American activist who promoted the fundamental idea that Native peoples have a right to sovereignty, justice, respect and control over their own destinies...
, and others who participated.
Landmarking and development
The entire Alcatraz Island was listed on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1976, and was further declared a
National Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1986. In 1993, the National Park Service published a plan entitled
Alcatraz Development Concept and Environmental Assessment. This plan, approved in 1980, doubled the amount of Alcatraz accessible to the public to enable visitors to enjoy its scenery and bird, marine, and animal life, such as the
California slender salamanderThe California slender salamander is a lungless salamander that is found primarily in coastal mountain areas of Northern California, United States as well as in a limited part of the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, California, in patches of the northern Central Valley of California, and in...
.
Today American Indian groups, such as the
International Indian Treaty Council-Mission:The International Indian Treaty Council is an organization of Indigenous Peoples from North,Central, South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific working for the Sovereignty and Self- Determination of Indigenous Peoples and the recognition and protection of Indigenous Rights, Treaties,...
, hold ceremonies on the island, most notably, their "Sunrise Gatherings" every
ColumbusMany countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday...
and Thanksgiving days.
Proposed peace center
The Global Peace Foundation proposed to raze the prison and build a peace center in its place. During the previous year, supporters collected 10,350 signatures that placed it on the presidential primary ballots in San Francisco for February 5, 2008. The proposed plan was estimated at
$The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1 billion. For the plan to pass,
CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
would have had to have taken Alcatraz out of the
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
. Critics of the plan said that Alcatraz is too rich in history to be destroyed. On February 6, 2008, the Alcatraz Island Global Peace Center Proposition C failed to pass, with 72% of voters rejecting the proposition.
Habitat
- Cisterns. A bluff that, because of its moist crevices, is believed to be an important site for California slender salamander
The California slender salamander is a lungless salamander that is found primarily in coastal mountain areas of Northern California, United States as well as in a limited part of the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, California, in patches of the northern Central Valley of California, and in...
s.
- Cliff tops at the island's north end. Containing a onetime manufacturing building and a plaza
Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...
, the area is listed as important to nesting and roosting birds.
- The powerhouse
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
area. A steep embankment where native grassland and creeping wild ryeWild rye is a term used for several grasses. They are natively found in parts of North America and are valuable in the control of exotic invasive plants and as a rotation crop."Wild ryes" belong to either of two genera:...
support a habitat for deer mice.
- Tide pools. A series of them, created by long-ago quarrying activities, contains still-unidentified invertebrate species and marine algae. They form one of the few tide-pool complexes in the Bay, according to the report.
- Western cliffs and cliff tops. Rising to heights of nearly 100 feet (30.5 m), they provide nesting and roosting sites for sea birds including pigeon guillemot
The Pigeon Guillemot is a medium-sized alcid endemic to the Pacific. They closely resemble the other members of the genus Cepphus, particularly the Black Guillemot, which is slightly smaller....
s, cormorantThe bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
s, Heermann's GullThe Heermann's Gull is a gull resident in the United States, Mexico and extreme southwestern British Columbia. Of the current population of about 150,000 pairs, 90% nest on the island of Isla Rasa off Baja California in the Gulf of California, with smaller colonies as far north as California and...
s and Western GullThe Western Gull, Larus occidentalis, is a large white-headed gull that lives on the western coast of North America. It was previously considered conspecific, the same species, with the Yellow-footed Gull of the Gulf of California...
s. Harbor sealThe harbor seal , also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere...
s can occasionally be seen on a small beach at the base.
- The parade grounds. Carved from the hillside during the late 19th century and covered with rubble since the government demolished guard housing in 1971, the area has become a habitat and breeding ground for black-crowned night heron
The Black-crowned Night Heron commonly abbreviated to just Night Heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, except in the coldest regions and Australasia .-Description:Adults are...
s, western gullThe Western Gull, Larus occidentalis, is a large white-headed gull that lives on the western coast of North America. It was previously considered conspecific, the same species, with the Yellow-footed Gull of the Gulf of California...
s, slender salamanderSlender salamander is the name often given to Plethodontid salamanders of the genus Batrachoseps. They are distinguished from other lungless salamanders by their four toes on each foot...
s and deer mice.
- The Agave Path, a trail named for its dense growth of agave
Agave is a genus of monocots. The plants are perennial, but each rosette flowers once and then dies ; they are commonly known as the century plant....
. Located atop a shoreline bulkhead on the south side, it provides a nesting habitat for night heronThe night herons are medium-sized herons in the genera Nycticorax, Nyctanassa and Gorsachius. The genus name Nycticorax derives from the Greek for “night raven” and refers to the largely nocturnal feeding habits of this group of birds, and the croaking crow-like call of the best known species, the...
s.
- Alcatraz prison and its surroundings.
Flora
Gardens planted by families of the original Army post, and later by families of the prison guards, fell into neglect after the prison closure in 1963. After 40 years, they are being restored by a paid staff member and many volunteers, thanks to funding by the Garden Conservancy and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. The untended gardens had become severely overgrown and had developed into a nesting habitat and sanctuary for numerous birds. Now, areas of bird habitat are being preserved and protected, while many of the gardens are being restored to their original state.
In clearing out the overgrowth, workers found that many of the original plants were growing where they had been planted – some more than 100 years ago. Numerous heirloom rose hybrids, including a Welsh rose that had been believed to be extinct, have been discovered and propagated. Many species of roses, succulents, and geraniums are growing among apple and fig trees, banks of sweet peas, manicured gardens of cutting flowers, and wildly overgrown sections of native grasses with blackberry and honeysuckle.
In popular culture
Alcatraz Island has appeared many times in popular culture, most notably "
The RockThe Rock is a 1996 action film that primarily takes place on Alcatraz Island and in the San Francisco Bay area. It was directed by Michael Bay and stars Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. It was produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and released through Hollywood Pictures. The film...
" starring
Sean ConnerySir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
and
Nicolas CageNicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
. Its appeal as a film setting derives from its isolation and its history as a prison from which, officially, no prisoner ever successfully escaped.
Gallery
See also
- Islands of San Francisco Bay
- Robben Island
Robben Island is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 km west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. The name is Dutch for "seal island". Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 km long north-south, and 1.9 km wide, with an area of 5.07 km². It is flat and only a...
- Hornblower Cruises
Hornblower Cruises & Events is a San Francisco-based charter yacht, dining cruise and ferry service company.-History:The company began in 1974 in Berkeley, CA. In 1980 the original owner, Ward Proescher, sold the business to Terry MacRae and P. Michael Watson...
External links