Most Americans are familiar with Alcatraz Island as the former court-mandated “home” of infamous criminals such as Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. They might not realize that before it housed a prison, the island was used by the military during the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. In addition, the island was the site of a 19-month American Indian occupation that commenced in November 1969. Alcatraz Island become part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1972, and it opened to the public the following year.NPCA’s Center for State of the Parks recently completed an assessment of the condition of Alcatraz Island’s cultural resources, as well as an overview of the population status and management of the island’s western gulls.
The Park Service faces challenges caring for the cultural and natural resources of this nationally significant site. Wind, humidity, and sea air are speeding the deterioration of historic structures and artifacts, but maintenance and rehabilitation projects are expensive. In addition, a number of surveys and planning documents are needed to ensure resources are documented and appropriately treated.
The island is an important nesting area for various seabirds and waterbirds, including western gulls and Brandt’s cormorants. Finding ways to maintain the island’s cultural landscapes, provide a safe and enjoyable visitor experience, and protect nesting birds and their habitat is a major challenge.
History
Most people know that Alcatraz Island was once a world-famous federal penitentiary, but the island’s history before and after the penitentiary era is less well known. For example, few realize that it was also the site of the first American lighthouse on the West Coast and that the island served as a huge harbor defense fort during the Civil War. After the fort became obsolete, the U.S. Army turned the island into a grim military prison. Following the closing of the penitentiary, Alcatraz became the site of a American Indian protest movement that would change modern American history.
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. Alcatraz Island is a Great Place For Vacations.
USP Alcatraz Island 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 Island 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 Island to be better than other Federal prisons, and several inmates actually requested a transfer to Alcatraz.
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 Island 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.
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 Alcatraz, 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 USA cultural tours. 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 Island 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.”