"Alcatraz" is archaic Spanish for "Pelican," a shortening of "La Isla de los Alcatraces," the name given by Juan Manuel de Ayala
when he landed there in 1775. The island is nondescript, then
white-colored because it was covered in pelican dung.
Alcatraz is in the middle of California's San Francisco Bay. Its inaccessibility has given it a number of lives: it was first a lighthouse station, then a military installation, then
military prison, then federal prison, then point of confluence for
shelter-seeking Native American
tribes (see above).
There are ghost stories, of course. The now-defunct prison, with its cells
smaller in area than some dinner tables, contains enough congealed sadness to make you believe anything.
Seeing no use in a dung-sheathed protuberance of the seafloor, the Mexican government gave the island free-of-charge to developer Julian Workman
in the summer of 1846 with the condition that he build a lighthouse on
it. You can see it in the old pictures. Astute readers will note that
this was a few years before the US claimed California, then a northern
extension of Mexico. The US would take the coast, of course; the island came at a cost of three thousand dollars and a legal battle. Then the military moved in.
In 1850, the US Army built a citadel into the island, one level below ground to
serve as a point of cover. It
was to work in tandem with two other fortifications, one built on each lip of the bay, to defend the inlet from the growing Confederate threat (gold rush
etc.) The hundred cannons the Army later put in--too many even
to activate concurrently--made Alcatraz the most fortified military
complex on the west coast. None of the cannons were ever fired.
Because the island saw almost no action, the citadel doubled as a barracks for military prisoners, mostly Confederate
sympathizers. In 1909 the island's second most obvious purpose was realized
when the citadel was demolished and replaced with a dedicated military
prison; the captives built the prison and then lived in it.
With this work I hope to bring that ideal one small step nearer, but no
one realizes so well as I how far short of my goal I have fallen. The
road stretches into the dim future, far beyond the possible
accomplishments of any single lifetime, but if in this I have been able
to point the direction and inspire others to carry on from the point
where I have left off, I shall consider my efforts worthwhile.
Robert F. Stroud — The Birdman of Alcatraz
June 1, 1937
Stroud's Digest on the Diseases of Birds
The Birdman was one of Alcatraz' many famous contents, along with Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelley.
A much up-played aspect to the prison's inmate roster is that it was
made up of felons too unruly to be held captive at other facilities. Interestingly, Alcatraz' modest capacity of about 600
was never met, and inmates at other prisons were known to request transfer there.
The cells are five foot by nine foot. None of them are against perimeter walls--not that it matters, since the island does not have beaches.
The daily routine reads like a military boot camp
itinerary where everyone's trying to kill each other. Wake up.
Shave. Clean your cell. Stand in silence. Breakfast. Eating utensils
counted. Work. Eight-minute smoke break. Lunch. Work. Dinner.
Eating utensils counted. There were no free moments between sleep.
The hole
needs little introduction. A drain
in the floor set the tone for the next 24 hours.
By way of sporting, the inmates were allowed to build a baseball field on a plateau
left over from previously abandoned building efforts. They even had
uniforms. Boxing matches, in which participants were
determined by guards happened periodically, and were a worthy spectacle not only for the inmates but for civvies willing to take the ferry over.
Unsurprisingly, escape was attempted.
I know a pretty good number of people who've been to prison. It tends to shame them that they can make anything out of anything, particularly food. Ever made a
birthday cake out of Twinkies and cocoa paste? Cooked a brick of ramen
noodles with a cushion and your ass? You don't think of these things.
Most of the fourteen escape attempts were your predictable
take-hostages-and-run-for-the-ocean fare. But one attempt, involving a
tunnel and papier-mâché dummies (yes), was particularly harrowing.
In a utility corridor behind the cells of cellblock B there exists,
still, a tunnel, chiseled out of the water-softened concrete. The tool: a drill, assembled from a spoon veneered with soldered
silver and a vacuum-cleaner motor. For reference, drilling through concrete is hard work when you have the right shit to do it.
Work was done during music
hour, under the drone of accordions.
The
talents of Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin
would have been better-applied, one imagines, in a room overlooking a
launchpad, but no matter. In their path they left false walls and attachments, including rivets carved from soap (yes). For the life raft: raincoats.
The dummies stood guard in the cells during work. Shreds of the raincoats they had used as life rafts turned up on Angel Island. The men themselves, unheard of thence. They had done so much; it was the closest anyone ever came to reaching the coast.
Re: Ghosts:
Some see
emotion as a substance that leaves the body and survives. In this way, sorrow becomes an imprint.
The island was a subject of folklore even before the prison.
Native Americans avoided it, believing it to hold evil spirits.
The most chilling contemporary story comes from the hole. An inmate screamed that glowing eyes were there with him. The guards, being in the occupation of fielding lies and managing pressurized violence, left him. They found him dead the next morning, with a hand-shaped
bruise around his throat; autopsy revealed that the strangulation wasn't self-inflicted. The guards counted an extra prisoner that day.
The glowing eyes made other appearances, none of them causing death. As
in any haunted place, there are cold spots, moaning from inside the
walls. Regiments of soldiers sometimes appear. There are crashes.
The old lighthouse itself, built by Julian Workman and long since
demolished, is said to appear in the fog and shine its light on the
island with a whistling sound. Mediums go in and are seen to have feelings.
Today Alcatraz is a US National Park. You can take a ferry over, take in the sights, learn the history, buy postcards.
The prison's historical specs:
- 1775: Sighted by the Europeans
- 1846: Lighthouse appears
- 1848: Acquired by the US
- 1858: First Army garrison completed
- 1868: Designated long-term facility for military prisoners
- 1907: Designated US Military prison
- 1912: Main cell block completed
- 1934: Graduated to Federal prison
- 1963: Penitentiary Closed
The US National Park Service provides a fair resource for those wishing to travel to the island.
Sources
Wikipedia. "Alcatraz Island." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcatraz_Island.
The Shadow Lands. "Alcatraz." http://theshadowlands.net/famous/alcatraz.htm.
Alcatraz History. http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/mainpg.htm.
US National Park Service. "Alcatraz Island." http://www.nps.gov/alca/.