Alcatraz, the small island in the bay of San Francisco, received its name in 1775 from the Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala. He christened the land La Isla de los Alcatraces, which translates to Isla de los Pelicanos. It was of no interest, as it was uninhabited, arid terrain with minimal vegetation and treacherous icy currents.
Having little to offer, Alcatraz was left alone for another 72 years. In 1847, the United States Army claimed the island for use as a military fortification. Within a year, US Army engineers were hard at work building a military fortress and the first operational lighthouse on the Pacific coast.
Once completed, the Alcatraz fortress became a symbol of military strength. Its features included long-range iron cannons and four 36,000-pound 15-inch Rodman guns, which were capable of sinking hostile ships up to three miles away. While Alcatraz’s image lived up to its reputation, the only bullet ever fired came from a 400-pound cannon. This was aimed at an unidentified ship, which failed. In 20 years, rapid weaponry modernization rendered the Army’s defenses on Alcatraz obsolete. Soon, the Army began to rethink the uses of its island.
The natural isolation made Alcatraz the ideal location for an Army penitentiary. In 1861, the island began its 102-year history of housing prisoners, first as an Army penitentiary and later as a federal prison.
Alcatraz was the Army’s debut as a long-term prison. The prisoners of the Civil War were the first to arrive. The population remained small until 1898, when the Spanish-American War brought the prisoner count from 26 to more than 450. In 1906, a catastrophic earthquake in San Francisco forced the city to evacuate hundreds of prisoners to Alcatraz. The large influx of prisoners forced the expansion of the building. By 1912, a large three-story cell house had been built on the central ridge of the island. The structure had almost reached its maximum capacity in the late 1920s.
Rising operating costs led the military to close Alcatraz in 1934. Property on the island was turned over to the Department of Justice.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Great Depression brought an excessive increase in crime. The combination of prohibition, mass unemployment, and desperate need fostered a new era of gangsters and organized crime. This new generation of criminals had taken over the big cities. Ordinary prisons weren’t doing a good job keeping them behind bars. The federal government needed a “leak-proof” prison, where they could lock up the worst of these bad guys. On Alcatraz, the government found exactly that.
In April 1934, contractors began work to convert the military prison into a maximum security federal prison. This new and improved Alcatraz was designed to hold no more than 300 prisoners. Only those convicted of federal crimes were sent to Alcatraz. These crimes included bank robbery, kidnapping, income tax evasion, evasion of public services and murders related to these crimes. Alcatraz Federal Prison was designed strictly as a non-rehabilitation pen.
Few prisoners were sent directly to Alcatraz when they were sentenced in court. The prisoners found their way to the island through behavioral problems and escape attempts. Getting transferred out of Alcatraz was even more difficult. Parole was not an option. The inmates first had to earn their way to a different prison through their good behavior.
James A. Johnston, the first of Alcatraz’s four guardians, set the rules. He insisted on one guard for every three prisoners. The average ratio in other prisons at that time was one guard for every 10-13 inmates. The prisoners had no commissary. Newspapers were not allowed; his reading material was censored and extremely limited. They had no television and radio was banned until the mid-1950s. The inmates received no counseling and were not offered classes or groups to join. Recreation was severely limited. Boredom was an ongoing and extreme problem for both inmates and prison guards.
Inmates were allowed one visit per month, which first had to be approved by the director. These visits lasted about an hour and a half and were conducted through glass with the use of a telephone.
The most controversial of Johnston’s rules was the “Silent System.” Any type of conversation between prisoners was prohibited. The prisoners were deprived of even the most basic human contact. Several inmates were reported to have gone insane due to this policy. Over the years, the silent system became too difficult to apply. Four long years later, politics was abandoned and never reestablished.
Alcatraz Federal Prison consisted of 336 cells in three wards. The main corridor, nicknamed Broadway, had 168 cells and was three stories high. Broadway offered little privacy to inmates, as this area received the most foot traffic. However, Ward D was by far the worst area of the prison.
Called the special treatment unit, this area is also known as isolation, segregation, and loneliness. Five of the cells on the lower level earned the nickname “The Hole.” Each cell contained a sink, a toilet, and a low-voltage light bulb hung from the ceiling. The solid steel door had a small insert that opened to push out the prisoner’s food. Inmates were given thin mattresses to sleep on, but they were removed during the day. No form of entertainment was provided or allowed. The prisoner was isolated from all human contact, suffering extreme boredom and isolation.
The striptease cell was reserved for particularly difficult inmates. This was a dark, steel-lined cell with no bed, sink, or toilet. The door was made of solid steel that remained closed at all times. The prisoners were naked and placed inside without blankets or light. The “toilet” was a hole in the floor. A thin mattress was provided for sleeping hours and then removed. This cell was a cold, disgusting, black void that was feared by even the toughest criminals.
The time in “the hole” was not supposed to exceed 19 days and the time in the strip cell was limited to two days. However, this standard was not always met. Reports were made of prisoners driven mad by the extreme sensory deprivation of the hole and the nudity cell.
In its 29 years as a federal prison, Alcatraz held 1,576 inmates. During that time, 14 escape attempts were made for a total of 36 inmates. Of them, 21 were returned alive, two were returned and executed, seven were shot dead and one drowned and his body was dragged ashore.
Five prisoners, from two separate escape attempts, made it off the island. Ralph Roe and Theodore Cole disappeared in 1937 and Frank Morris, Clarence, and John Anglin disappeared in 1962. Despite persecution across the country, none of these men were found and no bodies were recovered. There is much controversy to this day as to whether any or all of these men came out of the water alive.
Alcatraz’s structure began to deteriorate. In the 1950s, salty air had corroded metal and concrete. Around 1961, the power plant began to fail, causing electrical blackouts. The plumbing pipes were cracked and a major structural repair was required. During 1960-1961, the Bureau of Prisons spent $ 300,000 on renovations. Approximately $ 4 million more was needed.
Repairs weren’t the only factor in Alcatraz’s high maintenance costs. Due to their isolation, supplies, including water, had to be transported by truck. This meant that even the daily expenses were much higher. The cost per prisoner was almost three times higher at Alcatraz than in other American prisons.
By the time of the last escape attempt in 1962, the decision had already been made to close Alcatraz. Construction had begun on the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, the replacement for Alcatraz. On March 21, 1963, the last 27 prisoners were transferred from the island’s prison. Alcatraz officially closed in June 1963.
Apart from a caretaker and his wife, Alcatraz remained a desolate place as various parties lobbied the government with development ideas. Nothing came of these ideas. Then, in 1969, a large group of American Indians landed on Alcatraz. A relatively unknown treaty with the United States government in the 19th century allowed Native Americans to reclaim abandoned federal property. Using this treaty, the group claimed Alcatraz as “Indian land”.
The Indians had an elaborate plan to transform Alcatraz, which included a Native American educational cultural center. Public support grew rapidly, with high-profile advocates from show business as well as Hell’s Angels. This was both a blessing and a curse. The volume of visitors to the small island quickly became overwhelming. Sadly, Alcatraz soon became a haven for the homeless and abandoned population.
In a short time, the indigenous people faced the same problems that hampered the administration of the prison; the total absence of natural resources and the enormous expenses. A series of difficulties culminated in a fire on June 1, 1970 that burned what had been the Guardian’s house, the lighthouse keeper’s residence, and the officers’ club. The Indian community fell apart. About a year later, on June 11, 1971, federal marshals removed the remaining occupants of Alcatraz.
In 1972, Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which included Alcatraz. The island was opened to the public in the fall of 1973. Today, Alcatraz is one of the most popular National Historic Parks, with more than a million visitors arriving there each year.