The Spanish first explored the island
which was later to house the infamous prison. The name “Alcatraz”
is an English adaptation of the Spanish word for “pelicans”. The
island passed into U.S. hands with its acquisition of California
from Mexico following the Mexican-American War.
In 1850 the U.S.
military took over the island of Alcatraz and used it to house
long-term prisoners until 1934 when it became too costly to maintain. In 1934 it became a federal prison
which was intended as a place of last resort for inmates who were
considered troublemakers in other federal penitentiaries. Among the
most notorious of its prisoners were the racketeers Al “Scarface”
Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, Alvin “Creepy” Karvis,
and Arthur “Doc” Barker of the Ma Barker gang.
The prison was intended to be
escape-proof. Until it closed in 1963, there were fourteen separate
escape attempts by thirty-four men. In almost all cases, the men were
killed or recaptured. The last escape attempt was depicted in the
1979 film Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint Eastwood. The
fate of the three men involved in the escape was never determined:
they were never recaptured and were presumed drowned.
The prison on Alcatraz, often referred to as “The
Rock,” was known as a cruel place with its notorious “holes”: a
series of cells that were used to punish non-complying inmates by
keeping them in complete isolation with minimal or no clothing, bread and water for sustenance, and no toilet facilities—sometimes for up to nineteen
days.
Alcatraz was closed as a federal prison
in 1963 by Attorney General Robert Kennedy due to the costs of its
upkeep and the deterioration of its buildings. It was placed under
the National Park Service in 1972, and was opened to the public the following year. Since that time it has become extremely popular as a
tourist attraction with regular tours of the facilities.
Alcatraz has captured the popular
imagination as the subject of innumerable books and movies, and a
television series in 2012.
Is Alcatraz haunted? Clanging sounds,
footsteps, voices, sobbing, and screams have been reported by both
park employees and visitors. Perhaps one of the eeriest stories is
the report of the sound of faint banjo music coming from the shower
room. Al Capone spent hours strumming his banjo there rather than
exercising in the yard and facing assaults by fellow prisoners.
If the evil that men do and the misery
they suffer lives after them, Alcatraz is a natural haunting place.
