Alcatraz

Nicknamed The Rock, rocky island in San Francisco Bay, California, U.S., occupying an area of 22 acres (9 hectares) 1.5 miles (2 km) offshore.

The island had little vegetation and was a seabird habitat when it was explored in 1775 by Lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala, who named it Isla de los Alcatraces (“Isle of the Pelicans”). Sold in 1849 to the U.S. government, Alcatraz has the distinction of being the site of the first lighthouse (1854) on the coast of California. Thereafter other buildings were erected on the island, and the first army detachment was garrisoned there in 1859. In 1868 the island was designated as a residence for military offenders. Later prisoners included rebellious Indian scouts from the Arizona territory, American soldiers fighting in the Philippines who had deserted and joined the Filipino cause in 1900, and civilians who had resisted the U.S. army in China. In 1907 the island was designated the Pacific Branch of the United States Military Prison. From 1934 to 1963 it served as a federal prison for the most dangerous civilian prisoners. Among its famous denizens were Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, and Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz.” Though the Alcatraz penitentiary was able to house 450 convicts in cells that measured about 10 by 4.5 feet (3 by 1.5 m), never more than 250 prisoners occupied the island at one time. Escape attempts were rare, but a few inmates did escape from the island; whether they survived the currents of the bay is unknown. Eventually the necessity of transporting fresh water to and waste away from the island resulted in the island's abandonment in 1963.

In March 1964 a group of Sioux Indians claimed the island, citing an 1868 treaty with the Sioux allowing Indians from the reservation to claim any “unoccupied government land.” In November 1969 a group of eighty-nine Indians occupied the island, remaining there until they were forced off by federal marshals in June 1971.

In 1972 Alcatraz became part of the newly created Golden Gate National RecreationArea. Although no effort has been made to repair the structures on the island—most suffered general decay and weathering, and the historic lighthouse and four other buildings burned in 1970—Alcatraz Island is now open to the public.