SAN FRANCISCO
ALCATRAZ ISLAND
Escape From Alcatraz
In 1934 Alcatraz was converted into a Federal prison. The old military prison was
upgraded and installed with the lastest "escape-proof" safeguards. It was assumed that
the "treacherous waters" of the San Francisco bay would be a major barrier to those
who attempted to escape by swimming. But three girls had proven in 1933 that it
wasn't impossible.

Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe disappeared from Alcatraz on 16 December 1937 and
were never seen again. Prison authorities believed they had drowned. A San Francisco
Chronicle reporter declared four years later that they were still alive in South America.
Clarence Anglin, his brother John, and Frank Morris also disappeared from Alcatraz
on 11 June 1962 and were never seen again. Their escape was made famous by Clint
Eastwood's movie. Prison authorities also believed they had drowned.

During the last escape from Alctraz, John Paul Scott, 35-years old, swam from the
island to Fort Point, under the southern part of the Golden Gate Bridge, proving that
it could be done by a convict. That was 25 years later to the day after Cole and Roe
escaped.

As a Federal Penitentiary and from a total of 1,033 prisoners, thirty-four (34) men had
attempted to escape in fourteen (14) separate attempts; of those, twenty-three (23)
were caught, six (6) were shot and killed, and five (5) are missing and assumed by
Prison Authorities to have drowned.

Alcatraz Federal penitentiary was officially closed on March 21, 1963.
I'm In Jail Without No Bail!
BATTLE OF ALCATRAZ
One of the most violent escape attempts on Alcatraz occurred in May of 1946. Many
historians mark this date as the most significant event in the island's twenty-nine-year history
as a Federal penitentiary, and it was appropriately christened the "Battle of Alcatraz." In the
wake of the conflict, fourteen guards and one inmate were left injured, while two correctional
officers and three inmates lay dead from bullet wounds.
VIEW FROM ALCATRAZ "WINDOW"
Receiving My Visitor
Clint Eastwood's
Dummy Head
"Alcatraz was never no good for nobody."
AZ 1576 - Frank Weatherman
Last Prisoner to Leave Alcatraz
~ ALCATRAZ ~
Oldest Lighthouse
On the West Coast
1853
The Guards and their families actually lived on Alcatraz Island!