After traveling down the Oregon Coast and spending a few days in the California Redwoods last May it was time for some history. On to San Francisco and Alcatraz.
Once one of the world’s most feared prisons, isolated on a small island in San Francisco Bay, is now a tourist attraction.
First to explore the area in 1775, Spaniard Juan Manuel de Ayala named the island Isla de los Alcatraces, translated ‘island of the pelicans", Alcatraz in English.
In the 1850s the United States army built a fortress there, to protect San Francisco, it was never needed as a military fort.
In 1868 it became a military prison. In 1909 most of the original fortress was demolished and a new prison was built by the prisoners, which became known as ‘The Rock’.
In 1933, Alcatraz was taken over by the US government and turned into a federal penitentiary for civilian convicts thought especially dangerous. Strict silence was maintained most of the time and radios and newspapers were forbidden.
The prison had about 150 staff, who along with their families lived on the island. There were usually about 250 prisoners, living one to a cell.
Famous names who spent time at Alcatraz included gangster Al Capone, George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly, Robert Stroud, the ‘birdman of Alcatraz’, and Whitey Bulger who only recently died after being caught by the FBI after more than 30 years on the run.
Thought inescapable, there were 14 escape attempts most were captures, a few died in the attempt either by being shot or drowning and a few were never found, including Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin who successfully escaped on June 11, 1962.
The prison was closed in 1963 because the cost of transporting food, water and other supplies to the island made it far more expensive than the other federal penitentiaries.
A group of Native Americans claimed the island in 1969 and occupied it until they were driven out by federal marshals in 1971. It was included in the new Golden Gate Recreation Area the following year and opened to the public.
The weather was wet and rainy during the tour of Alcatraz, also very windy. The umbrella I bought when the rains started in Crescent City the week before was destroyed by the wind and left in a trash can on Alcatraz.
Most of the photographs were made mainly on the digital camera, (and a couple on the iphone) we did shoot a little film, but those aren't included here. I may put a small collection together once I review the film from the trip. We shall see.
Enjoy these!!
Dean.
