| Alcatraz Island was declared a military reservation | | | | Due to its isolated location and the freezing San |
| in 1850 and troops were permanently stationed | | | | Francisco Bay waters, the authorities considered |
| by 1859. For almost eighty years Alcatraz Island | | | | Alcatraz as an ideal place for holding dangerous |
| was the site of the first fortress and military | | | | prisoners. Criminals like George "Machine Gun" |
| prison on the west coast. The United States | | | | Kelly, Robert Franklin Stroud, Alvin Karpis, Henry |
| Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz were acquired by | | | | Young and Al Capone are some of the most |
| the United States Department of Justice on | | | | famous inmates to claim residence on Alcatraz. |
| October 12, 1933. Soon, it became a federal | | | | Alcatraz operated for a full 29 years and during |
| penitentiary on January 1, 1934. | | | | that time, there had been no known case of any |
| Alcatraz was also the first long-term Army prison. | | | | successful escape attempts. Most escapees were |
| The first prisoners to be brought in to Alcatraz | | | | shot dead or presumed drowned in the San |
| were Civil War and Spanish American War | | | | Francisco Bay waters. In 1962, three prisoners - |
| Prisoners during the 1800s. With the number of | | | | Clarens Anglin, his brother John and Frank Morris - |
| inmates increasing everyday, the prison structure | | | | disappeared from the premises and were never |
| was also extended and renovated. By the 1920s, | | | | found. But nobody knows if they ever reached |
| the three-story building was almost at full | | | | the shore. |
| capacity. | | | | |