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Despite its reputation, with many former inmates calling it "Hellcatraz", some prisoners reported that the living conditions there were much better than most other prisons in the country, especially the food, and many volunteered to come to Alcatraz.
- 312
- August 11, 1934; 89 years ago
- March 21, 1963; 60 years ago
Nov 3, 2020 · Even though rules were so strict, inmates from other prisons sometimes requested to be transferred to Alcatraz because of its better overall living conditions and orderliness. Still, prison is prison, and some railed against it.
- 1936 - Headstrong
- 1937 - Storm Is Brewing
- 1938 - Workshop Attack
- 1939 - The Failed Five
- 1941 - Using The Force
- 1941 - Cold as Ice
- 1943 - Spidermen
- 1943 - Missing Sock
- 1945 - Uncle Sam
- 1946 - Battle of Alcatraz
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 injurie...
December 16, 1937-- Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe worked in the mat shop in the model industries building. Over a period of time, while working in the mat shop in the model industries building, they 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 i...
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, Har...
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 ...
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 swi...
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 di...
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 recreatio...
Aug 12, 2019 · BKD/Pixabay. By. Erin Mahaney. Updated on August 12, 2019. Once considered the prison of American prisons, the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay has been an asset to the U.S. Army, the federal prison system, jailhouse folklore, and the historical evolution of the West Coast.
- 3 min
- Early Years as a Military Prison. In 1775, Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala (1745-97) mapped and named rugged Alcatraz Island, christening it La Isla de los Alcatraces, or Island of the Pelicans, due to its large population of sea birds.
- Doing Time as a Federal Prison: 1934-63. In 1933, the Army relinquished Alcatraz to the U.S. Justice Department, which wanted a federal prison that could house a criminal population too difficult or dangerous to be handled by other U.S. penitentiaries.
- Famous Inmates. Among those who did time at The Rock was the notorious Prohibition-era gangster Al “Scarface” Capone, who spent four-and-a-half years there during the 1930s.
- Escape Attempts from Alcatraz. Over the years, there were 14 known attempts to escape from Alcatraz, involving 36 inmates. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reports that of these would-be escapees, 23 were captured, six were shot and killed during their attempted getaways, two drowned and five went missing and were presumed drowned.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray. Alcatraz, former maximum-security prison located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, off the coast of California.
Alcatraz was designed to hold prisoners who continuously caused trouble at other federal prisons. At 9:40 am on August 11, 1934, the first batch of 137 prisoners arrived at Alcatraz, arriving by railroad from the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas , to Santa Venetia, California .
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