The famous prison in San Francisco. History of Alcatraz prison: photo, where it is, why it was closed

For tourists

On the island itself, park rangers conduct detailed tours of the cell of Al Capone and other prisoners who, due to the severity of the crime, could not be held in regular prisons. (Be sure to dress warmly, as the air above the bay is cold even in summer). Here you can listen to tape-recorded memories of the guards and the prisoners themselves. Night tours are conducted by a park ranger. Please purchase your tickets at least two weeks in advance. Ferries depart from Pier 33 (Pier 33) every half hour from 9.00 to 15.55, at 18.10 and 18.45.

Alcatraz; cruises to Alcatraz tel.: 415-981-7625 and 415-561-49-26; www.alcatrazcruises.com, www.nps.gov/alcatraz; adult/child day $26/16, night $33/19.50; telephone information service 8.00-19.00.

History of Alcatraz

In 1775, Spanish explorer Lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala mapped small island, which he named Isla de Las Alcatraces - Island of the Pelicans, due to the huge population of these birds that nested here. He could not even imagine that this island would go down in history as the most scary prison in USA. You may be familiar with Alcatraz thanks to the films “Escape from Alcatraz” with Clint Eastwood and “The Rock” with Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.

Years passed. The year 1848 arrived. Gold was discovered near the town of San Francisco. The news of this discovery quickly spread throughout the country, and thousands of people poured into California. In a few years, the population of San Francisco increased from 300 people to 300 thousand. Prospectors arrived both by land and sea.

Suddenly the city found itself in the spotlight of the whole world. The young state of California needed protection from the sea, and the choice fell on Alcatraz Island. This piece of land turned out to be an ideal location - just one mile from the city, from here all the ships trying to dock in San Francisco harbor were perfectly visible. No sooner said than done. In 1854 the first defensive structures and 11 guns installed (later there will be more than a hundred of them).

Together with Fort Point and Lime Point, Alcatraz formed a kind of “defensive” triangle, protecting the bay from attacks. By the end of the decade, the first military prisoner appeared on the island. Over time, Alcatraz's defensive function decreased (by the way, the island never had to use its weapons in action), but it acted as a prison for more than 100 years. In 1909, the army demolished the fortress, leaving the basement level to be used as the foundation for a new prison. From 1909 to 1911, prisoners built the prison building, which belonged to the Pacific Division of the US Army Disciplinary Barracks. It was this building that later became known as the Rock. The army used the island for more than 80 years: from 1850 to 1933. In 1909, after 56 years of use, the first Alcatraz lighthouse was dismantled during the construction of the prison. The second lighthouse was installed next to the prison building on December 1, 1909. And in 1963, the lighthouse was modified and made automatic and autonomous, and it no longer required round-the-clock maintenance.

Location in the middle of a bay with ice-cold water and strong sea ​​currents provided natural isolation of the island. Thanks to this, Alcatraz soon began to be considered by the US Army as perfect place for holding prisoners of war. In 1861, the first prisoners of war began to arrive on the island. Civil War from various states, and in 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American War, the number of prisoners of war increased from 26 to more than 450 people. In 1906, after the San Francisco earthquake destroyed most city, hundreds of civilian prisoners were moved to the island for security reasons. A large prison building was built in 1912, and by 1920 the three-story structure was almost completely filled with prisoners.

Alcatraz was the Army's first long-term prison and began to gain a reputation for being harsh on offenders, who faced harsh disciplinary measures. The punishment could be assignment to hard work, placement in solitary confinement with a limited ration of bread and water, and the list was not limited to this.

The average age of imprisoned military personnel was 24 years, and most were serving short sentences for desertion or less serious offenses. There were also those who served long sentences for disobedience to commanders, physical violence, theft or murder.

An interesting element of the military order was the prohibition of being in the cells during the day, except in special cases of forced confinement. High-ranking military prisoners could move freely throughout the prison, with the exception of the guard rooms located on a higher level.

Despite the harsh disciplinary measures applied to criminals, the prison regime was not strict. Many prisoners performed household chores for the families living on the island, and a select few were sometimes trusted to look after the children. Some took advantage of the vulnerability of the prison security organization to escape.

Despite all efforts, most of the fugitives were unable to reach the shore and had to return back to be rescued from the icy water. Those who did not return died from hypothermia.

Over the decades, prison rules have become even softer. In the late 1920s, prisoners were allowed to build a baseball field and even wear their own baseball uniforms. The army command organized boxing competitions between prisoners, held on Friday evenings. The fights were very popular, with civilians from San Francisco often traveling to Alcatraz just to watch them.

During the Great Depression (late 1920s to mid-1930s), crime rates increased greatly and the era of organized crime began. Large mafia families and individual gangs waged a war for spheres of influence, the victims of which were often civilians and law enforcement officials. Gangsters controlled power in the cities, many officials received bribes and turned a blind eye to the crimes that were happening. In response to the crimes of the gangsters, the government decided to reopen Alcatraz, but as a federal prison. Alcatraz satisfied the basic requirements: to place dangerous criminals far from society and to frighten the remaining criminals who were still at large. Federal Prisons Commissioner Sanford Bates and Attorney General Homer Cummings have initiated a prison renovation project. For this purpose, Robert Burge, at that time one of the best experts in the field of security, was invited. He was supposed to redesign the prison. During the reconstruction, only the foundation was left untouched, and the building itself was completely rebuilt.

In April 1934, the military prison received a new face and a new direction. Before the reconstruction, the bars and bars were wooden - they were replaced with steel ones. Electricity was installed in each cell, and all service tunnels were walled up to prevent prisoners from entering them for shelter and further escape. Along the perimeter of the prison building, above the cells, special weapon galleries were placed, which allowed the guards to stand watch while protected by steel bars. The prison canteen, as the most vulnerable place for fights and brawls, was equipped with tear gas containers, which were located in the ceiling and controlled remotely. Security towers were placed around the perimeter of the island in the most strategic places. The doors were equipped with electrical sensors. The prison block contained a total of 600 cells and was divided into blocks B, C and D, whereas before reconstruction the prison population never exceeded 300 prisoners. The introduction of new security measures, along with the cold waters of San Francisco Bay, created a reliable barrier for even the most incorrigible criminals.

The new prison also needed a new chief. The Federal Bureau of Prisons selected James A. Johnston for this position. Johnston was chosen for his strong principles and humane approach to reforming criminals to reintegrate them into society. He was also known for his reforms to benefit prisoners. Johnston did not believe in chained convicts. He believed that prisoners should be put into work where they were respected and rewarded for their efforts. Nicknamed the "Golden Rule Warden," the press praised Johnston for the improvements he made to California highways at his road camps. The prisoners working in them were not paid any money, but their sentences were reduced for diligent work. Before Alcatraz, Johnston was director of San Quentin Prison, where he introduced several successful educational programs that benefited the majority of prisoners. At the same time, Johnston was a supporter of strict discipline. His rules were the strictest in the correctional system, and his punishments the most severe. Johnston had been present at San Quentin hangings more than once and knew how to deal with the most incorrigible criminals.

The rules at Alcatraz have changed dramatically. Now each prisoner had only his own cell and minimal privileges to receive food, water, clothing, medical and dental care. Prisoners at Alcatraz were not allowed to have any personal belongings. To obtain privileges to communicate with visitors, visit the prison library and write, the prisoner had to earn it through hard work and impeccable behavior. At the same time, prisoners with bad behavior were not allowed to work in prison. For the slightest offense, all privileges were revoked. All media were prohibited in Alcatraz, including reading newspapers. All letters, as in any other prison, were corrected by a prison official. Federal prison governors had the right to transfer any delinquent prisoner to Alcatraz.

The courts did not sentence people to imprisonment in Alcatraz; especially “distinguished” prisoners from other prisons were usually transferred there. It was impossible to voluntarily choose Alcatraz to serve a prison sentence. Although exceptions were made for some gangsters.

Al Capone was one of the first such prisoners at Alcatraz prison. The police hunted for him for a very long time, and he ended up behind bars as a result of banal tax evasion! At first, the offender was in Atlanta, but soon his “comrades in arms” settled around the prison, and Al Capone calmly led his group directly from prison, where he acquired a whole army of prisoner servants, bribed the prison authorities, and visitors constantly came to him. “I sat and did not grieve” until I ended up in Alcatraz, from where I came out a weak and terminally ill old man.

Another famous Alcatraz prisoner was Robert Stroud, nicknamed the "bird catcher." In fact, Stroud never raised birds in Alcatraz, and indeed, he spent most of his time not in this prison at all. He also wasn't the sweet uncle Burt Lancaster portrayed him in Birdman Of Alcatraz (1962). In 1909, Stroud was imprisoned for robbery. But while he was serving his sentence in a Washington prison, he attacked a fellow inmate. He was transferred to a Kansas prison. But in 1916, he killed a guard there, for which Stroud was sentenced to death. However, then then-President Wilson, at the request of Stroud’s mother, replaced the execution with a life sentence. In 1942 he was transferred to Alcatraz. There he began studying birds, which he had been interested in since childhood, and even wrote two books about canaries and common diseases among them. Seeing such keen scientific interest, the prison administration allowed Stroud to study birds in the wild. But Stroud did not betray himself, and items prohibited in prison were often found in bird cages. He spent only 17 years in Alcatraz - 6 years in "block D" and 11 years in the prison hospital. In 1959, he was sent to a federal prison facility in Springfield, Missouri, where he died in 1963.

Another Alcatraz legend is Machine Gun George Kelly. He got his nickname because he always used a machine gun when robbing banks. He was responsible for bootlegging, murder, bank robberies and even the kidnapping of an Oklahoma oil tycoon. Machine Gun Kelly received a life sentence and spent 17 years in Alcatraz, after which, again for health reasons, he was transferred to another prison, where he soon died.

Despite popular belief, Alcatraz did not only house gangsters and especially dangerous criminals. Alcatraz was filled from other prisons with fugitives and rebels or those who systematically violated the regime of detention. Of course, there were gangsters, but most of them were sentenced to death. Prison life began with rising at 6:30, prisoners were given 25 minutes to clean their cells, after which each prisoner had to go to the cell bars for roll call. If everyone was in place at 6:55, the individual rows of cells opened one by one and the prisoners moved into the prison cafeteria. They were given 20 minutes to eat, then they were lined up to distribute prison work. The monotonous cycle of prison routine was unforgiving and remained unchanged for many years. The main corridor of the prison building was called "Broadway" by prisoners, and the cells on the second tier along this passage were the most coveted in the prison. Other cells were located downstairs, were cold, and were frequently passed by staff and prisoners. During the early years of Alcatraz, Warden Johnston maintained a policy of silence, which many prisoners considered the most intolerable punishment. There were many complaints demanding its cancellation. There were rumors that several prisoners went crazy because of this rule. The silence policy was later abolished, one of the few rule changes on Alcatraz. In the eastern wing there were solitary cells in isolation cells. They didn’t even have a full-fledged toilet: just a hole, the flush of which was controlled by a security guard. They were placed in the isolation ward without outer clothing and on meager rations. The cell door had a lockable narrow slot for passing food, which was always closed, leaving the prisoner in complete darkness. Usually they were placed in isolation for 1-2 days. It was cold in the cell, and a mattress was only provided at night. This was considered the most severe punishment for serious violations and bad behavior, and it was a punishment that all prisoners feared.

On March 21, 1962, Alcatraz prison was closed. It is officially believed that this decision was made due to the growing cost of keeping criminals on the island. For the further use of the prison, restoration work totaling $3-5 million was required. However, these figures did not include the daily maintenance of prisoners - and Alcatraz prisoners cost the budget three times more than any other federal prison. For example, in 1959, the daily cost of holding a prisoner for Skala was $10.10, compared to $3 in the Atlanta prison. The high cost was explained by the fact that literally everything - food, fuel - had to be delivered from the mainland. The island did not even have its own drinking water, and about a million gallons of water had to be delivered to Alcatraz every week. Since the prison's closure, many ideas have been discussed for the future use of the island. For example, it was proposed to build a UN monument here as the West Coast's answer to the Statue of Liberty. Businessmen tried to take over the island for hotels and shopping centers, and the Indians are under Cultural Center indigenous people of America. In 1969, a group of Indians actually took over the island, gaining enormous public support among a wide range of American society - from opponents of the Vietnam War to hippies and Hell Angels bikers. However, the Indians could not maintain order throughout the island, and in June 1971, by government decision, they were expelled from Alcatraz. In 1972, Congress approved the creation of Golden Gate National Park, and Alcatraz became one of the park's properties. In 1973, the Rock was opened to the public and has become one of the most attractive places in the National Park - about a million tourists visit Alcatraz every year.

Escape from Alcatraz

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Alcatraz is the stories about attempts to escape from “American Siberia,” as this prison was also called. They say that only 36 prisoners tried to escape, but it seems that not a single escape was successful. The fact is that in San Francisco Bay there is icy water and a very strong current, so, although the city is “a stone’s throw away”, the chances of swimming to the shore are practically zero, and the approach of boats to the island was strictly prohibited - shooting would immediately open up.

And yet, among the prisoners there was a rumor that the island was full of man-eating sharks that would immediately tear to pieces anyone who found themselves in the water. They often talked about a shark named Bruce, which the guards supposedly specially fed so that it would always be “on duty.”

It is reliably known that only one prisoner named John Scott managed to swim to the shore. This happened in 1962. At the end of the swim, the fugitive was so exhausted and exhausted that he collapsed on the shore, where two boys found him. The children decided that the man had tried to commit suicide by jumping from the nearby Golden Gate Bridge and called the police for help, who immediately identified the fugitive and brought him back to Alcatraz.

The most famous and prepared was the escape of the two Anglin brothers and their accomplice Morris, which served as the basis for the plot of the film Escape from Alcatraz. Using spoons secretly taken from the dining room, they made a passage in the wall and escaped through the ventilation shafts. The most remarkable thing is that they made their “heads” out of cement, glue, paint and hair stolen from a hairdresser and placed them on pillows so that the guards only noticed their absence in the morning during roll call. It is still unknown how this escape ended - over the past 38 years, the fugitives have not been announced anywhere, but there is also no reliable evidence of their death. And the “heads” can be seen in Alcatraz in the cells of the fugitives - they are actually made very skillfully.

A total of 29 years (1934-1963) While Alcatraz was in use as a federal prison, it is officially believed that there were no successful attempts to escape from the Rock, but five Alcatraz prisoners are still listed as "absent, presumed drowned."

Continuing the series of materials devoted to interesting places in, we got to legendary prison on the west coast of America, which everyone has probably heard of - Alcatraz Island. Like another similar place that was talked about before (), today the former prison is a public museum. You can get to this island in San Francisco Bay by ferry, which departs from Pier 33 regularly, every 30 minutes. The fee is about $27. If you plan to see all the sights in the city, then feel free to take it, a tour to the island is included.

The island itself, which in the beginning was used as defensive fort, and only after that as a prison, it was opened by the Spaniards back in 1775. Its name comes from "La Isla de los Alcatraces"- island of gannets. And here interesting fact : Gannets, according to ornithologists, never lived in this area, and the Spaniards apparently confused them with cormorants, of which there are really many here.

One of the reasons why Alcatraz prison gained its fame and certain fame is due to its location. The island is located in the center of the bay, next to which there is a strong current of icy water, which provides isolation and “natural security” against prisoner escapes.

From the island itself, which also has another name “Rock”, opens gorgeous view to “Disco City”.

The island's prison history dates back to the early 20th century, initially as a military prison. The first prisoners were prisoners of war, participants in the Civil War. By 1909, the building of the protective fort and prison was demolished and in its place, in 3 years, a new prison building was built, intended for the same purposes, but by 1920 there were practically no free places in Alcatraz.

During Great Depression in the USA, the prison becomes federal and all sorts of gangsters and mafiosi begin to be sent here. Among the most famous bandits it is certainly worth mentioning Al Capone.

Alcatraz Prison was known as a place of harsh disciplinary punishment. Among the most terrible of them, according to the prisoners themselves, was the policy of silence, during which no one had the right to make a single sound.

Isolation with limited food was used - prisoners were fed only bread and water, and kept in absolute darkness and cold for several days. Many troublemakers were sent to hard work.

One of the main rules in the prison was the ban on prisoners staying in their cells during the day, with the exception of privileged and isolated prisoners.

But over time, the prison regime became softer. Prisoners were entrusted with household chores for families living on the island, and some were even left to look after children. A baseball field was built for the prisoners and boxing competitions were organized, to which civilian spectators were allowed. Educational programs and a reward system were developed, according to which the most obedient prisoners had their sentences reduced.

Closure and reconstruction of the prison

In 1934, Alcatraz was transferred to the Department of Justice due to high costs on its content. But it was not closed for long: due to an increase in crime, the prison had to be opened again. Serious reconstruction of the building for prisoners.

The cells became single-occupancy, a punishment cell appeared, each prisoner had minimal privileges, the media and newspapers were prohibited.

All service tunnels were walled up, steel bars were installed on the windows, and light was installed in each cell. Tear gas containers were placed in the dining room, where fights most often took place. Towers with weapons galleries were installed along the entire perimeter of the prison blocks for additional security. The most dangerous prisoners were kept in block D, it had stricter rules of confinement.

The most terrible punishment for the inhabitants of the prison was solitary confinement. It was a small closed room, without windows or lighting, and instead of a toilet there was a hole in the floor. We ended up here for several days, with virtually no food or water.

They were not sent to Alcatraz prison immediately after the verdict was passed; only prisoners sent by transfer ended up here.

One of the interesting stages in the existence of Alcatraz was the period from 1969 to 1970, when a group of Indians actually took over the island, establishing a specific community on it. The new inhabitants burned fires right in the buildings, painted the walls, and inscriptions on water tower have survived to this day.

The chances of escaping from Alcatraz, more than 2 km from the mainland, were negligible, but attempts were still made. Those who managed to bypass the guards died in the icy water of the bay or were forced to return back. In total, about 15 attempts were made to escape.

Most famous escape from Alcatraz were Frank Morris, John and Clarence Anglin, who are still considered missing. Their escape is surrounded by legends that haunt historians to this day.

IN 1963 the prison was closed again, but this time forever. The lack of money to maintain prisoners away from the mainland, as well as the need for expensive repairs, were the main reasons for this decision.

In 1971 the island was made part of National zone recreation "Golden Gate", and 2 years later the prison became a kind of museum, which anyone can still visit.

This fact once again made us think about how Americans know how to make money from their attractions. This experience is definitely worth adopting for our country, fortunately interesting places enough everywhere.

San Francisco, California 94133, USA

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Discovery of the island and its name
In 1775, the Spaniard Juan Manuel de Ayala was the first to enter San Francisco Bay. His team mapped the bay and gave the name La Isla de los Alcatraces to one of the three islands, now known as Yerba Buena. It is widely believed that the name could mean "Pelican Island", due to the abundance of these birds on the island. However, according to reports from ornithologists, there are no colonies of pelicans or gannets, either on the island or nearby, but there are many different types cormorants and other large waterfowl.

In 1828, the English geographer Captain Frederic William Beechey mistakenly transferred spanish maps the name of an island on a neighboring one, currently known as the place famous prison, under the name Island Alcatrazes. In 1851, the US Coast Guard surveyor shortened the name to Alcatraz.

History of the lighthouse

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 brought thousands of ships into the San Francisco Bay, creating an urgent need for a lighthouse. The first lighthouse was installed and launched on Alcatraz in the summer of 1853. In 1856, a bell was installed at the lighthouse, which was used in the fog.

In 1909, during the construction of the prison, after 56 years of use, the first Alcatraz lighthouse was dismantled. The second lighthouse was installed next to the prison building on December 1, 1909. And in 1963, the lighthouse was modified and made automatic and autonomous, and it no longer required round-the-clock maintenance.

Fort

As a result of the gold rush, there was a need to protect the bay. In 1850, by order of the President of the United States, they began to build a fort on the island, where more than 110 long-range guns were installed. The fort was subsequently used to house prisoners. In 1909, the army demolished it, leaving only the foundation, and by 1912 a new building was built for prisoners.

Military prison

The location in the middle of a bay with icy water and strong sea currents ensured the island's natural isolation. Thereby Alcatraz soon came to be seen by the US Army as an ideal place to hold prisoners of war. In 1861, the first Civil War prisoners from various states began arriving on the island, and in 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American War, the number of prisoners of war increased from 26 to more than 450. In 1906, after the San Francisco earthquake destroyed much of the city, hundreds of civilian prisoners were moved to the island for safety reasons. A large prison building was built in 1912, and by 1920 the three-story structure was almost completely filled with prisoners.

Alcatraz was the Army's first long-term prison and began to gain a reputation for being harsh on offenders, who faced severe disciplinary action. The punishment could be assignment to hard work, placement in solitary confinement with a limited ration of bread and water, and the list was not limited to this. The average age of imprisoned military personnel was 24 years, and most were serving short sentences for desertion or less serious offenses. There were also those who served long sentences for disobedience to commanders, physical violence, theft or murder.

An interesting element of the military order was the prohibition of being in the cells during the day, except in special cases of forced confinement. High-ranking military prisoners could move freely throughout the prison, with the exception of the guard rooms located on a higher level.

Despite the harsh disciplinary measures applied to criminals, the prison regime was not strict. Many prisoners performed household chores for the families living on the island, and a select few were sometimes trusted to look after the children. Some took advantage of the vulnerability of the prison security organization to escape. Despite all efforts, most of the fugitives were unable to reach the shore and had to return back to be rescued from the icy water. Those who did not return died from hypothermia.

Over the decades, prison rules have become even softer. In the late 1920s, prisoners were allowed to build a baseball field and even wear their own baseball uniforms. The army command organized boxing competitions between prisoners, held on Friday evenings. The fights were very popular, with civilians from San Francisco often traveling to Alcatraz just to watch them.

Due to the high maintenance costs associated with the location, the Department of Defense decided to close this famous prison in 1934 and it was taken over by the Department of Justice.

Federal prison

During the Great Depression (late 1920s to mid-1930s), crime rates increased greatly and the era of organized crime began. Large mafia families and individual gangs waged a war for spheres of influence, the victims of which were often civilians and law enforcement officials. Gangsters controlled power in the cities, many officials received bribes and turned a blind eye to the crimes that were happening.

In each cell there is a book “The Rules of Alcatraz”

In response to gangster crimes, the government decided to reopen Alcatraz , but already like federal prison. Alcatraz satisfied the basic requirements: to place dangerous criminals far from society and to frighten the remaining criminals who were still at large. Federal Prisons Commissioner Sanford Bates and Attorney General Homer Cummings initiated the prison renovation project. For this, Robert Burge, at that time one of the best experts in the field of security, was invited. He was supposed to redesign the prison. During the reconstruction, only the foundation was left untouched, and the building itself was completely rebuilt.

In April 1934, the military jail received a new face and a new direction. Before the reconstruction, the bars and bars were wooden - they were replaced with steel ones. Electricity was installed in each cell, and all service tunnels were walled up to prevent prisoners from entering them for shelter and further escape. Along the perimeter of the prison building, above the cells, special weapon galleries were placed, which allowed the guards to stand watch while protected by steel bars.

The prison canteen, as the most vulnerable place for fights and brawls, was equipped with tear gas containers, which were located in the ceiling and controlled remotely. Security towers were placed around the perimeter of the island in the most strategic places. The doors were equipped with electrical sensors. The prison block contained a total of 600 cells and was divided into blocks B, C and D, whereas before reconstruction the prison population never exceeded 300 prisoners. The introduction of new security measures, along with the cold waters of San Francisco Bay, created a reliable barrier for even the most incorrigible criminals.

Boss

Before Alcatraz, Johnston was a director at prison San Quentin, where he introduced several successful educational programs that had a beneficial effect on the majority of prisoners. At the same time, Johnston was a supporter of strict discipline. His rules were the strictest in the correctional system, and his punishments the most severe. Johnston had been present at San Quentin hangings more than once and knew how to deal with the most incorrigible criminals.

Prison life

The courts did not sentence people to imprisonment in Alcatraz; especially “distinguished” prisoners from other prisons were usually transferred there. Voluntarily choose Alcatraz it was impossible to serve the prison term. Although exceptions were made for some gangsters, including Machine Gun Kelly (in those years “public enemy No. 1”) and others.

The rules at Alcatraz have changed dramatically. Now each prisoner had only his own cell and minimal privileges to receive food, water, clothing, medical and dental care. Prisoners at Alcatraz were not allowed to have any personal belongings. To obtain privileges to communicate with visitors, visit the prison library and write, the prisoner had to earn it through work and impeccable behavior. At the same time, prisoners with bad behavior were not allowed to work in prison. For the slightest offense, all privileges were revoked. All media were prohibited in Alcatraz, including reading newspapers. All letters, as in any other prison, were corrected by a prison official.

The wardens of federal prisons had the right to transfer any delinquent prisoner to Alcatraz. Despite popular belief, Alcatraz did not only house gangsters and especially dangerous criminals. Alcatraz was filled from other prisons with fugitives and rebels or those who systematically violated the regime of detention. Of course, there were gangsters, but most of them were sentenced to death.

At one time it was a legend of the American penitentiary system: the most dangerous criminals or those who managed to escape from other prisons were imprisoned here.

Prison life began with rising at 6:30, prisoners were given 25 minutes to clean their cells, after which each prisoner had to go to the cell bars for roll call. If everyone was in place at 6:55, the individual rows of cells opened one by one and the prisoners moved into the prison cafeteria. They were given 20 minutes to eat, then they were lined up to distribute prison work. The monotonous cycle of prison routine was unforgiving and remained unchanged for many years. The main corridor of the prison building was called "Broadway" by prisoners, and the cells on the second tier along this passage were the most coveted in the prison. Other cells were located downstairs, were cold, and were frequently passed by staff and prisoners.

During the early years of Alcatraz, Warden Johnston maintained a policy of silence, which many prisoners considered the most intolerable punishment. There were many complaints demanding its cancellation. There were rumors that several prisoners went crazy because of this rule. The silence policy was later abolished, one of the few rule changes on Alcatraz.

In the eastern wing there were solitary cells in isolation cells. They didn’t even have a full-fledged toilet: just a hole, the flush of which was controlled by a security guard. They were placed in the isolation ward without outer clothing and on meager rations. The cell door had a lockable narrow slot for passing food, which was always closed, leaving the prisoner in complete darkness. Usually they were placed in isolation for 1-2 days. It was cold in the cell, and a mattress was only provided at night. This was considered the most severe punishment for serious violations and bad behavior, and it was a punishment that all prisoners feared. The new prison also needed a new chief. The Federal Bureau of Prisons selected James A. Johnston for this position. Johnston was chosen for his strong principles and humane approach to reforming criminals to reintegrate them into society. He was also known for his reforms to benefit prisoners.

Johnston did not believe in chained convicts. He believed that prisoners should be put into work where they were respected and rewarded for their efforts. Nicknamed the "Golden Rule Warden," the press praised Johnston for the improvements he made to California highways at his road camps. The prisoners working in them were not paid any money, but their sentences were reduced for diligent work.

Alcatraz Prison Escapes

The most successful escape attempt that was possibly successful occurred in 1962. Frank Morris, along with his brothers John Anglin and Clarence Anglin, were using a homemade drill to pick out cement from the walls. Having carefully prepared, having studied the security shift schedule and other nuances, on June 11, 1962, they escaped through the service tunnel , located behind their cells. Having got out into the tunnel, they blocked the hole from the nutria with bricks, and in their sleeping places, in our opinion (beds, or more precisely in relation to prisons, bunks) they left dummies of their bodies so that the escape would be revealed as later as possible. Then, through the screw system, they penetrated the roof and went down to the water through a drainage channel. There, using pre-prepared rubber raincoats, they inflated a raft of raincoats with the help of a small accordion and set off to swim. According to the official version, they never swam to shore and drowned somewhere in the bay, and their bodies were never found.

But according to the unofficial version, verified by many independent experts, this escape from Alcatraz prison was successful and the prisoners managed to escape to freedom. Even the famous show “MythBusters,” becoming interested in this story, carried out its own investigation, which proved that the escape could have been successful.

Another possibly successful escape attempt occurred on December 16, 1937 - Theodore Cole and his friend Ralph Roe, after working for some time in an iron workshop, developed a plan and, on one of their shifts, used the tools there to remove the bars from the window and headed towards the water. On that ill-fated day, they were unlucky - a strong storm broke out and, probably “according to the official version,” they drowned without reaching the shore of San Francisco. Their bodies were never found, and most people are convinced and believe that they were swept out to sea by a storm. According to the official version, they are still considered missing.

Notable Alcatraz Prison Inmates:

The most famous prisoner who served his sentence in Alcatraz prison is by far the most famous. In July 1931, a federal court sentenced Al Capone to ten years in prison for tax evasion and sent him to the Atlanta Correctional Facility to serve his sentence. In 1934, he was transferred to a special security prison on Alcatraz Island, from where he was released seven years later, terminally ill with syphilis.

State enemy number one, George Machine Gun Kelly, was sentenced to life imprisonment; in Alcatraz, he was not the ruthless and cruel killer and gangster he was in freedom. For his exemplary behavior, he received the nickname Flapper George. After serving 17 years in Alcatraz prison, he was transferred to the mainland back to Leavenstone prison (Kansas) where he died of a heart attack in 1951.

A young guy whose fate was ruined by one judge, Robert Stroud, a poultry farmer, killed a man who had beaten and robbed his wife in self-defense, for which he received 12 years, although at that time in practice they gave 2-3 years for similar crimes, but the new judge decided to show himself and gave him 12 years old. Then he went on a rampage in prison, killing a guard who cruelly mocked him and was sentenced to death, and only thanks to his mother remained alive; she miraculously submitted a request to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment to US President Woodrow Wilson. He spent almost 80% of his time in solitary confinement. He received his nickname because of his passion for birds, which turned into a real scientific work that was appreciated by everyone. science community. Died in Alcatraz Prison at the age of 75, without receiving a pardon.

Known gangster and train robber Roy Gardner, who stole more than $350,000 during his criminal career, primarily robbed mail trains. The reward on his head at that time was a very impressive 5 thousand US dollars, he was the most wanted man on the US Pacific coast in all history. On September 5, 1921, he escaped from the Prison on McNeil Island. Apparently out of stupidity there is no other way to call it, he began writing letters to newspapers appealing to the authorities “come and get me,” and after being captured he was transported to Alcatraz prison. He published his autobiography with the title “hellish Alcatraz”. In it he talked not only about his life but also about others. famous personalities of Alcatraz prison(Al Capone, Birdman, George Machine Gun Kelia and others). He was part of a group that planned an escape and it seems to me that they were successful, but he did not go with them.

In San Francisco Bay, off the coast of California, there is an island on which the world's most famous prison, Alcatraz, was located. It is believed that this was a place of detention for criminals, equipped with the most serious security system, and the turbulent waters of the bay served as additional isolation. Currently, the island itself and the prison area have been turned into a museum, which any tourist can reach by ferry.

At first, a lighthouse was installed on the island, the need for which arose in the middle XIX century, following the discovery of gold in California in 1848 and the subsequent gold rush that brought thousands of ships to San Francisco Bay. The influx of gold miners and adventurers led to the need to protect the bay. In 1850, construction began on a fort on Alcatraz Island to house long-range guns. Later, the fort was used to hold prisoners of war, first during the Civil War (from 1861) and then the Spanish-American War (from 1898). After the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, civilian prisoners were transferred to the island prison for their own safety.

During the rampant crime of the Great Depression, the prison was reorganized as a federal prison under the Department of Justice. The reconstruction led to the replacement of bars and bars from wood to steel, the service tunnels were walled up, and electricity was installed in the cells. The prison canteen, which was notorious for fighting between feuding inmates, was equipped with tear gas canisters that could be controlled remotely, and all doors were equipped with electrical sensors and locks. The prison itself was divided into four blocks with different severity levels. It is known that the most notorious criminals were kept in block “D”.

In 1963, the Alcatraz prison was closed because it was too expensive to maintain, since absolutely everything for its functioning had to be imported from the mainland. In addition, there is an urgent need for a major renovation of the establishment; according to estimates, this would require about five million dollars. For several years the authorities have been thinking about future fate the island and the structures on it, and finally in 1973 it was decided to turn Alcatraz into a museum.

During the existence of the prison, fourteen escape attempts were known, in which 36 prisoners took part. Most of them were killed by the guards, some were captured alive. The only one who managed to sail from the island in December 1962 was John Paul Scott. But he was captured almost immediately on the mainland at Fort Point.

The most famous story was Alcatraz prison escape American criminals Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin in June 1962. They attempted to leave the island using an inflatable raft. The investigation conducted by the FBI did not give an exact answer - whether the criminals managed to escape or whether they died during their desperate act.

Frank Morris, Anglin and John William

Anglin's brothers Alfred Clarence (born May 11, 1931) and John William (born May 2, 1930) were from Donalsonville, Georgia. Both were contracted to work on county farms as laborers. Together they began robbing banks in Georgia and were arrested in 1956. Given sentences of 15 and 20 years in prison, they were sent to the Atlanta prison, where they first met Frank Morris and Allen West. Later there was Florida State Penitentiary and Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. As incorrigible and repeated violators of prison regulations, the brothers were sent to Alcatraz prison. John arrived there on October 21, 1960, as Prisoner No. AZ1476, and Clarence on January 10, 1961, as Prisoner No. AZ1485.

Frank Lee Morris was born in Washington, D.C. on September 1, 1926, and spent much of his childhood in orphanages. He committed his first crime at the age of 13, and as a teenager he was repeatedly arrested for numerous crimes, ranging from drug possession to participation in armed robbery. Before being transferred to Alcatraz, Morris served long term at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. Frank was admitted to Alcatraz on January 3, 1960, where he became prisoner AZ1441.

Allen Clayton West was born March 25, 1929. He served time in an Atlanta prison for car theft. For attempting to escape, he was sent to Alcatraz in 1957 and became prisoner AZ1335.

A. West was the only one of the four conspirators who did not actually participate in the escape, since he was unable to get out of the cell in time. The rest, without waiting for West, used an inflatable life raft. Having lost the opportunity to leave the island, West was forced to return back to his cell. The next morning the escape was discovered and Alain West became the “hero of the day.” He even gave several interviews to newspapermen. It is likely that some kind of deal was struck between him and the prison authorities, since he provided full information about the escape plan, and he was not charged with attempting to escape from Alcatraz. In February 1963, West was transferred to a federal prison on the mainland to await the end of his prison sentence. Being in prison did not do him any good and could not put him on the path to reform. Already in January 1969, A. West was again sentenced to prison on charges of theft and robbery and went to serve it in Florida State Prison, where he died of acute peritonitis on December 21, 1978, at the age of 49 years.

Details of the escape from Alcatraz prison

The prisoners knew that there was an old service tunnel through the wall of their cell. For almost a year they were picking at the wall with the help of a certain tool made from an ordinary spoon, drowning out the noise of the work with the help of loud music. When the hole was finally made, the conspirators made dummies of heads using toilet paper, soap and real hair that was cut at home. These false heads had to convince the prison guards that there were prisoners in their beds during night checks.

Heads made by criminals

And so on the night of June 11, 1962, the fugitives put their plan into action. Through a hole in the wall they enter a non-working service tunnel, then climb up a ventilation shaft to reach the roof. After climbing down from the roof and over the prison fence, the trio assembles a raft from the rubberized raincoats provided to prisoners as part of their prison clothing kit, joining them together with contact adhesive. They inflate the raft on the northeastern tip of the island and launch it into the water around ten o'clock in the evening. They managed not to attract the attention of the external guards and now everything depended on their luck - whether they would be able to cross the bay on such a dubious raft.

The hole in the cell through which the criminals escaped

The next morning the trio was discovered to have escaped. The cunning plan to leave the false heads in their beds gave the fugitives a head start of about eight hours. Security thoroughly searched Alcatraz and Angel Islands, but to no avail.

Later, off the coast of Angel Island, the remains of a raft, oars and a plastic bag containing some personal belongings of one of the Anglin brothers were found. Federal Bureau An investigation was conducted that suggested that if the prisoners reached land, they would certainly have to somehow provide themselves with civilian clothing and means of transportation. But there have been no reports of car thefts or clothing thefts in the surrounding areas. The extremely low water temperature during this time period and the direction of the ocean tides at this time of day were also taken into account. The investigation lasted for seventeen years and finally, on December 31, 1979, the case was closed. The FBI concluded that the prisoners most likely drowned in the waters of the bay while trying to reach the mainland.

The island was used as a defensive fort, later as a military prison, and then as a high-security prison for especially dangerous criminals and those who attempted to escape from previous places of detention. Currently, the prison has been disbanded, the island has been turned into a museum, accessible by ferry from San Francisco from Pier 33.

History of the island

Discovery of the island and its name

History of the lighthouse

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 brought thousands of ships into San Francisco Bay, thereby creating an urgent need for a lighthouse. The first lighthouse was installed and launched on Alcatraz in the summer of 1853. In 1856, a bell was installed at the lighthouse, which was used in fog.

An interesting element of the military order was the prohibition of being in the cells during the day, except in special cases of forced confinement. High-ranking military prisoners could move freely throughout the prison, with the exception of the guard rooms located on a higher level.

Despite the harsh disciplinary measures applied to criminals, the prison regime was not strict. Many prisoners performed household chores for the families living on the island, and a select few were sometimes trusted to look after the children. Some took advantage of the vulnerability of the prison security organization to escape. Despite all efforts, most of the fugitives were unable to reach the shore and had to return back to be rescued from the icy water. Those who did not return died from hypothermia.

Over the decades, prison rules have become even softer. In the late 1920s, prisoners were allowed to build a baseball field and even wear their own baseball uniforms. The army command organized boxing competitions between prisoners, held on Friday evenings. The fights were very popular, with civilians from San Francisco often traveling to Alcatraz just to watch them.

Due to the high maintenance costs associated with the location, the Ministry of Defense decided to close this famous prison in 1934, and it was transferred to the Ministry of Justice.

Federal prison

Central passage in Alcatraz

Prison life began with rising at 6:30, prisoners were given 25 minutes to clean their cells, after which each prisoner had to go to the cell bars for roll call. If everyone was in place at 6:55, the individual rows of cells opened one by one and the prisoners moved into the prison cafeteria. They were given 20 minutes to eat, then they were lined up to distribute prison work. The monotonous cycle of prison routine was unforgiving and remained unchanged for many years. The main corridor of the prison building was called "Broadway" by prisoners, and the cells on the second tier along this passage were the most coveted in the prison. Other cells were located downstairs, were cold, and were frequently passed by staff and prisoners.

During Alcatraz's early years, Warden Johnston maintained a "policy of silence"—prisoners were forced to refrain from making any sound for long periods of time—which many prisoners considered the most intolerable punishment. There were many complaints demanding its cancellation. There were rumors that several prisoners went crazy because of this rule. The silence policy was later abolished, one of the few rule changes on Alcatraz.

In the eastern wing there were solitary cells in isolation cells. They didn’t even have a full-fledged toilet: just a hole, the flush of which was controlled by a security guard. They were placed in the isolation ward without outer clothing and on meager rations. The cell door had a lockable narrow slot for passing food, which was always closed, leaving the prisoner in complete darkness. Usually they were placed in isolation for 1-2 days. It was cold in the cell, and a mattress was only provided at night. This was considered the most severe punishment for serious violations and bad behavior, and it was a punishment that all prisoners feared.

Closing the prison

Memorial plaque

Escapes from Alcatraz

View of Alcatraz from a helicopter

During the 29 years of operation of the prison, presumably there was not a single successful escape, but since five prisoners who tried to escape could not be found (neither alive nor dead), this cannot be said for sure. In total, thirty-four prisoners organized 14 escape attempts, two attempted to escape twice; seven were shot, two drowned, five went missing, the rest were captured and returned to prison. Two prisoners tried to swim away from the island, but were caught: one in 1945, the other in 1962. The most desperate escape attempt, called the Battle of Alcatraz, took place in 1946. Three prisoners, two guards were killed, and two prisoners were later executed for participating in the riot.

Escapes from Alcatraz: MythBusters

Little known escape attempts

The Escape of Frank Morris and the Anglin Brothers

John Anglin

Frank Morris

The most famous escape attempt was made by Frank Morris. Frank Morris) and brothers John (eng. John Anglin) and Clarence Anglin (eng. Clarence Anglin). The three escaped from their cells on June 11, 1962, developing one of the most sophisticated escape plans ever.

Behind the cells in the prison building there was an unprotected service tunnel about one meter wide. Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers took turns picking out pieces of moisture-damaged concrete to get to the service tunnel. They used a homemade drill for this purpose, made from a metal spoon soldered with silver from a dime, with a motor stolen from a vacuum cleaner and a simple sharpened spoon. The noise from the improvised drill was masked by the music that had been playing for an hour. When the hole in the wall was ready, the trio constructed papier-mâché dolls in their beds so that their absence would not be discovered prematurely by the guards.

When everything was ready, the fugitives crawled through the hole and blocked it from the inside with bricks. Then, having unbent the bars protecting the grille fan, they climbed onto the roof and went down to the water through the drainpipe. There, on a raft made in advance from rubber raincoats and inflated with the help of a concertina (small harmonica), they sailed from the shore at 10 o'clock in the evening.

However, most likely, the fugitives did not swim to the shore, perishing somewhere in the cold waters of the bay. Officially, they are considered missing. According to the unofficial version, they could have reached the shore and disappeared. The official FBI investigation was assisted by another prisoner, Allen West, who also prepared the escape, but did not go through with his accomplices.

However, it cannot be concluded that they drowned. Still, for Morris this ending seems too simple. He was no fool, he spent most of his life in prison and made 11 escape attempts, not counting this one, and he also had an IQ of 133 points. He was an escape artist and definitely knew the dangers of the bay. And he had months to observe the current from the exercise yard and plan a route. The escape itself was very cleverly planned, and they clearly paid enough attention to the main obstacle to freedom.

The idea that at least some of the fugitives managed to reach the shore is supported by the fact that the Anglin brothers were from swampy Florida, where the forest is flooded by the sea during high tides, they knew how to build rafts, control the current, and were good swimmers.

The fact that the bodies were not found suggests that the prisoners reached the mainland. However, on the night of the escape in particular, around the same time, a man named Seymour Webb threw himself from the Golden Gate Bridge and his body was not found.

The following facts speak in favor of the official version: The water temperature in the bay was about 10 degrees, after about 20 minutes the cold began to affect the body. The temperature of the water in the Alcatraz showers was moderately hot so that the prisoners' bodies would not become accustomed to the cold water. In addition, two days later, a waterproof bag was found near Angel Island containing a phone book, money and family photographs belonging to one of the Anglin brothers. In addition, a homemade life jacket was discovered with noticeable teeth marks near the valve, which suggested that the clamp was not airtight, and it was more difficult for the swimmer to stay on the surface of the water. 7 July 1962 Norwegian cargo Ship The SS Norefjell was leaving Pier 38 when a body was spotted floating twenty miles northwest of the Golden Gate Bridge. The man was wearing blue denim pants similar to a prisoner's uniform. According to the FBI, there were no other missing or drowned persons wearing similar clothing at this time.

A little known fact is that there may have been more escapees. June Stevens (ur. June Stephens) was initiated into the plan back in December 1961. He occupied a cell on the third tier above the cells of Morris and the Anglin brothers. A post-escape inspection of the entire prison also revealed holes around the ventilation grille in Robert Williams' cell. Robert L. Williams). Williams, who is serving a life sentence for murder, denied any involvement in the escape; Stevens admitted that he also planned the escape, but Morris asked him to abandon it, firstly, because a piece of concrete falling from a height could arouse suspicion, and secondly, It is very difficult to climb out into the corridor at such a height. Although Stevens is not believed to have been involved in planning the escape in the last five months, he nevertheless described in some detail how the prisoners planned and carried out the escape. In addition, he stated that Williams played an important role in preparing the escape; he and Morris were close friends and worked together in a glove manufacturing workshop. Stevens was later sent to a detention center for attempting to escape. Died in November 1995. Williams died in May 2006.

In 2011, 49 years after the escape, a documentary film was made: “Disappeared from Alcatraz”, in which documents were checked about all the clues about the escape, it was written in them that the raft of the fugitives was found, the place of discovery was Angel Island. But it was not among the evidence found in the bay and on Angel Island, and why no one has ever seen these documents. There was also a report of a stolen vehicle, simply the owner of the stolen blue Chevrolet sent a complaint to the city of Stockton. And the conclusion is that on 06/11/62 prisoners Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin put their fake heads on pillows, climbed out through the ventilation hole into the corridor, there they climbed through the pipes to the roof of block B, with a raft, oars, a homemade pump from a harmonica and homemade vests They climbed to the roof and went down the drainpipe to the shore. They inflate the raft and sail 3 km to Angel Island, then they get into the Marrin cauntry and steal a car at dawn. By the time the guard finds their fake heads, they are already racing towards freedom. As a result, the escape was a success; the impregnable fortress in San Francisco Bay fell under the intelligence and ingenuity of the three fugitives. And now it is not the FBI that is searching for them, but the US Department of Justice (U.S. Marshal).

Battle for Alcatraz

From left to right: Bernard Coy, Marvin Hubbard, Joseph Kretzer

From left to right: Clarence Carnes, Sam Shockley, Miran Thompson

The "Battle of Alcatraz" was the name given to the failed escape attempt that took place from May 4, 1946, in which two guards were killed (one died from severe wounds later) and three prisoners, and 14 guards and one prisoner were injured.

Alcatraz in culture

• Film "Alcatraz Island" Alcatraz Island) (1937), - starring John Litel (eng. John Litel ).
• Film "The King of Alcatraz" King of Alcatraz ) (1938), - starring Lloyd Nolan (eng. Lloyd Nolan ).
• Film "Seven Miles from Alcatraz" Seven Miles from Alcatraz ) (1942), - starring James Craig. James Craig ).
• Film "Train to Alcatraz" Train to Alcatraz) (1948), - starring Don Red ("Red") Barry (eng. Don "Red" Barry ).
• Film The Bird Lover of Alcatraz Birdman of Alcatraz) (1962), - starring Burt Lancaster (eng. Burt Lancaster).
• Film "Escape from Alcatraz" Escape from Alcatraz) (1979), - starring Clint Eastwood (eng. Clint Eastwood).
• Film "Massacre on the Rock" Slaughterhouse Rock ) (1988), - starring Nicholas Celozzi (eng. Nicholas Celozzi); On the territory of the former Alcatraz prison, a demonic evil lurks, which the leading heroes are trying to resist.
• Film "Murder in the First Degree" Murder in the First) (1995), - starring Kevin Bacon (eng. Kevin Bacon); The leading character of the film makes an unsuccessful attempt to escape from Alcatraz.
• Film "The Rock" The Rock) (1996), - starring Sean Connery (eng. Sean Connery) and Nicolas Cage (eng. Nicolas Cage); a group of military men led by an American special forces general lands on Alcatraz Island, takes hostages and, threatening them with missiles containing deadly gas, begins to blackmail the US government.
• Film "Neither Alive nor Dead" Half Past Dead ) (2002), - starring Steven Seagal (eng. Steven Seagal); In the story, the prison is reopened after a long break.
• Film "X-Men: The Last Stand" X-Men: The Last Stand) (2006), - starring Hugh Jackman (eng. Hugh Jackman); Alcatraz, instead of a prison, becomes a hospital where mutants are treated for their abilities, and the final battle takes place there.
• Film "The Curse of Alcatraz Prison" Curse of Alcatraz) (2007), - starring Phil Austin (eng. Phil Austin); A group of scientists arriving on Alcatraz are exposed to a demonic curse that hovers over the island.
• In the movie "Prison Train" Prison Train ; 1938; starring Fred Keating - English. Fred Keating) one of the leading characters, gangster Frankie, is transported by train to San Francisco to be put behind bars in Alcatraz; Dramatic events unfold along the way.
• In the film "The Alcatraz Experiment" Experiment Alcatraz; 1950; Starring John Howard John Howard ) five prisoners from Alcatraz are transferred to a military hospital, where they are tested on an experimental method of treating blood diseases.
• In the film "Point Blank" Point Blank; 1967; starring Lee Marvin Lee Marvin); another Russified title of the film is “Point Blank”), the plot takes place on the territory of the former Alcatraz prison; an evening view of the island and Alcatraz prison appears as the background scenery during the end credits; This film is also notable for the fact that episodes related to Alcatraz were actually filmed on its territory - for the first time since the prison was closed in 1963.
• In the film "The Guardian of the Law" (eng. The Enforcer; 1976; starring Clint Eastwood) a gang of criminals holds the kidnapped mayor of San Francisco on the territory of the former Alcatraz prison; The climax and denouement of the film take place on the same island.
• In the film "Terror on Alcatraz" Terror on Alcatraz; 1987; starring Aldo Ray - English. Aldo Ray ) the only Alcatraz prisoner who managed to escape, many years later returns to the territory of the former prison to pick up the once hidden key to the safe; The implementation of this plan is hampered by random witnesses.
• In film "