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Alcatraz Prison The Alcatraz prison is on of course Alcatraz island. The name Alcatraz is derived from the Spanish word “Alcatraces”. The people who built it were military prisoners. The reason they built it right next to San Francisco bay is because it is right next to water, no prisoners can escape. It was very clever. The most famous prisoner was Robert Stroud, the so-called “Birdman of Alcatraz”. But he had no birds. He was convicted of manslaughter. Stroud was called the birdman because he got an interest in birds and wrote two books about Canaries and their diseases. Over the 29 years that the Federal prison operated, 36 men (including two who tried to escape twice) were involved in 14 separate escape attempts. Twenty-three were caught , 6 were shot and killed during their escape, and two drowned. Two of the men who were caught later were executed in the gas chamber at the California state prison at San Quentin for their role in the death of a correctional officer during the famous May 2-4, 1946 “Battle of Alcatraz” escape attempt |
