Essay On Alcatraz

Alcatraz- The Great Escape Welcome to The Rock. A federal prison located on Alcatraz Island resting in the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay. An island with a natural isolation. A maximum security prison that holds the most dangerous and difficult criminals. This island is surrounded by chilling waters and hazardous currents, which includes a horrible 1.5 mile swim to shore. Alcatraz is a hard place to break out of, but there have been many attempts, some successful, others not so much (Alcatraz). A Spanish explorer mapped and named the island, La Isla de los Alcatraces, translates to Island of the Pelicans, for its large population of birds. After seventy-five years, the current president signed an order reserving the island for military use. The construction of a new cell house, hospital, mess hall and other prison buildings on Alcatraz was built by inmates in the early 20th century. In 1933, the Army relinquished Alcatraz to the U.S. Justice Department. They needed the facility for prisoners thought to be too difficult or dangerous to be handled by other U.S.
It includes three men escaping Alcatraz on the night of June 11, 1962. Originally there were four men, but the fourth couldn’t get through the ventilator grill so they were forced to leave him behind. They spent three months digging through their air vents with sharpened spoons that they stole from the cafeteria. They also made lifelike dummy heads out of paper, soap and human hair from the barbershop. They made a makeshift raft and life preservers out of 50 raincoats that had been stolen or donated by the other inmates. The escapees climbed up 30 feet to the prison plumbing system to the root of the cell house. Then crossed 100 feet of rooftop and made it down 50 feet of piping, near the exit of the inmate shower area. They weren’t heard or seen after this point. And who knows where they are now