Escape From Alcatraz: A 47-Year Manhunt By Laura Sullivan

Security in Alcatraz was intense, and escaping was nearly impossible. The idea was maximum custody. The prisoners were on a strict schedule and were constantly being watched by the correctional officers. Official counts were held every 30 minutes during the day. (need source here) They were locked behind doors at all times, and the bars were tool-resistant.

Thesis: Alcatraz has been a popular social topic because of the mystery that surrounds it and the stories exaggerated in movies and television shows.

When a group of radical Islamic students stormed the U.S. embassy in Iran and took the Americans working there hostage during the fall of 1979, the nation reacted with shock and outrage that far outweighed the necessary emotion for the situation. As David Farber writes in his book Taken Hostage, “The Iranian imbroglio, in fact, affected the American people less directly than any of the others…it happened faraway, and caused little immediate pain to any but the hostages…Yet, as measured by public concern, emotional outpouring, and simple fascination, the Iran hostage crisis captivated the American people more than any other of the era’s difficulties (1).” Why were Americans so impassioned about the crisis if it didn’t really affect them?

Since Alcatraz was on a small island, the salt water was eroding the building. The condition got so bad that two prisoners escaped by chipping the wall out with a spoon. Prisoners were escaping More and more easily. Also, the whole reas

Alcatraz a high security prison on an island just two miles off the edge of San Francisco there many of the United States toughest criminals, were sent there to do hard time on the rock. (Hopkinson 7-8) Alcatraz was a military prison before it was a federal penitentiary after World War 2 ended, the people of the United States wanted a super prison. Somewhere that they could send the worst criminals to rot. The prison of Alcatraz was operated from 1935-1963.There were many escape attempts but all of them failed because of the harsh guards and the treacherous waters of the San Francisco Bay. No one thought anyone could break out of the concrete walls of Alcatraz until June 11, 1962 came and Frank Morris and the Anglin Brothers decided it was time for them to get out of that hell hole.

Alcatraz was first discovered in 1775 by a spanish explorer, Juan Manuel del Ayala, which he named the Island of the Pelicans (Williams, 2016). Alcatraz is now a national landmark established in the 1930’s. The renowned island located in the bay of San Francisco, California. During the 1930’s crimes and gangs increased in an alarming rate due to the effects of The Great Depression (Williams, 2016). Many crimes and gangs rose also when many laws were passed and put many behind bars (Raaphorst, 71). Donna Raaphorst, author of “The History Of An Island Prison: From The Development To An American Myth”, states

Thesis: Alcatraz has been a popular social topic because of the mystery that surrounds it and the stories exaggerated in movies and television shows.

This famous prison known as “The Rock” constructed in an island surrounded by bone chilling water, located off the coast of the San Francisco bay, just over a mile from the city was made in attempts to make escapes much more hazardous. For many decades, “The Rock” served as a powerful fortress, military prison and a federal prison, housing the most dangerous criminals of the latter half of the 20th century, in some way separating the evil from the civilian population, employing prison guards known to be the toughest and extremists in the country. Alcatraz initiated in 1934 became the first federal prison in the history of the United States with the highest maximum-security system active until 1963. Being full of myths and history that today

Alcatraz is a well-known landmark that is shrouded in mystery. Many people think they know everything about the tough-as-nails prison when really it is just a Hollywood creation. Hollywood created the lie that "The prison if horrible and all the prisoners there are notorious villains."

This final paper is on the prison system best known for its high security and worse place to be as a criminal. It is located 1.5 miles offshore of San Francisco, California. Alcatraz is commonly known for “The Rock”. It served as a military prison beginning in 1868 and was a federal prison from 1933 until 1963 (History, 2009). In 1972 is when Alcatraz was made into a national park for outsiders to explore this place of historic land (History, 2009). Then in 1986 is when Alcatraz officially became a historical national park (History, 2009).

Al Capone is known for his murders, gambling, and prostitution. He would even smash people’s skulls open by hitting them on the side of the head with a bat! His parents would have never known that he would become the lead gangster of the prohibition era. What made him turn to his life of crime and villainy? He was just a normal schoolboy. Maybe it was his desire to support his family. Possibly it was meeting Johnny Torrio, that changed his perspective on crime. Or maybe it was both.

First I joined a gang when I was 17. While is was in the gang I worked as a bouncer in a bar. Man I got into so many fights when I worked there. I got hurt so just to make a little more money I worked as a bartender. That only lasted 2 days. Than I got into a fight and threatening to kill some one and I got fired.

Again, A raft was found and there was car stolen. So, their plan was to go north to go north to Angel Island (where there raft was found) and then once they got there and dried off, they would swim down a little canal to the main lands. Once they were at the main lands they would steal a car. The night of the prisoners escape the was a blue Chevrolet stolen. In the morning, when the prisoners were found missing at nearby Angel Island there was there raft found with footprints leading away from the raft. Surely they

According to the Ghosts of D.C., it states that the coastal service found the raft they got in, and personal belongings close to the designated island they were trying to get to… no bodies never showed up for evidence of Morris or the Anglins dying. But, there are so many more reasons that would convince people the three men survived the greatest escape in the United States history. One of the first reasons is because there was no report of stolen cars or clothing at any towns near by. Also, “no one has ever escaped Alcatraz before and whoever has tried has died” (History Channel). Another reason is there has been no sightings of any of the men, and no one from their families ever reported communicating with them(npr 1). Dyke, a FBI guard who has been searching for the men since there escape says “I'll keep looking for them until I can prove they’re dead- as they may have been all along” (50 years later: Mystery of Alcatraz escape endures 1). Soon the word got out, and history

Many people know Alcatraz as one of the most popular prisons but, not many know about the back story of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. This prison, at the time, was a maximum-security prison that was based on an island 1.25 mile off the shore. The main prison building early on was used as a military army prison and was built around the year 1910. Since the 1860’s Alcatraz had been a site of a citadel. The prison opened in August 11th of 1934. Alcatraz was being modified and modernized to meet all requirements of a high security maximum prison.