Escape from Alcatraz

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Today Scott and I have signed up for a trip to the iconic Alcatraz Island out in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Issy’s not showing a lot of enthusiasm for this exercise. I assure her that I did have a shower this morning, but she’s still showing no signs of budging, so us boys set off on our own …. again.

It’s only about a fifteen minute boat ride out to “The Rock”, where the tour kicks off with a volunteer giving us a potted history of the infamous site. In the mid 1850s, shortly after the Mexican American War resulted in California being ceded to the Americans, planning began to convert the island into a military base to form part of the so-called “triangle of defence” of San Francisco Bay. The first garrison arrived in 1858, and shortly thereafter it also commenced use as a military prison, and soon after that also as a prison for civilians convicted of treason. This all became an expensive exercise - maintenance was costly due to the harsh marine environment, and supplies all had to be shipped in - so in 1933 the military said enough and withdrew.

The prohibition era was in full swing, crime was rife, and the Department of Justice was keen to make a public statement. It saw an opportunity here, and in 1934 the first batch of prisoners arrived from Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas. These guys were generally the worst of the worst - prisoners regarded as beyond rehabilitation, and other troublesome types, many of whom had tried to escape from high security prisons elsewhere around the country. Notables included Al Capone, Robert Stroud - the so-called Birdman of Alcatraz, and Machine Gun Kelly.

We’re told that whilst there were 34 documented attempts, it’s claimed that no one ever successfully escaped from Alcatraz. Many were shot trying, and others drowned in the freezing waters of the Bay. One guy did manage to make it to a neighbouring island, but the authorities were waiting on the beach for him when he swam ashore, so that didn’t work out quite as he’d planned. Two others made it into the water, and that’s the last that was ever seen of them - their bodies were never found …. or perhaps they did escape?

We’re told that conditions here were particularly brutal. Inmates weren’t entitled to anything other than food, a bed and medical treatment, and even the most basic privileges had to be earned - access to the exercise yard and library, right to have visitors, right to work in the workshop, right to receive letters, etc. And if you broke the rules, it was off to the so-called “hole” - some guys spent years in the complete darkness of solitary confinement cells. Hmmm. In 1963 the Department realised it could no longer justify the high costs of keeping the place going, and the last inmates were shipped out.

Native American activists occupied the island in the mid to late 1960s, and it 1972 it opened for tourism for the first time.

The regular cells are depressing enough, but the solitary confinement block is a whole other level of inhumanity. You surely couldn’t retain your sanity if you had to spend any time at all in that hell hole. On a brighter note there’s no shortage of bird life here, particularly seagulls and a massive cormorant colony.

We came out here in tightly timed groups, but it’s a free-for-all on the way back. We seem to have chosen a particularly popular departure time - the queue to get on the ferry’s snaking off into the distance. As we get on with this heaving mass of humanity, a guy in front of us nervously questions a crew member about the boat’s capacity. The response - “800 ……. technically”. Huh? I’m not sure anyone’s counting, and anyway what does that even mean? Wasn't the Titanic “technically” unsinkable. The water’s apparently so cold here that you’d only survive for a few minutes if you happened to get dunked, and it’s suddenly feeling like a long way back to the dock.

Safely back on dry land again, we head across to the Japanese Tea Garden in beautiful Golden Gate Park. This very attractive sanctuary was developed for the 1894 World’s Fair, and was built by none other than an Aussie. Go us. We then make our way through the Park past a rock concert and the very peaceful National AIDS Memorial Grove to the very hip Haight Street of Haight-Ashbury fame - the 1967 “Summer of Love” and all that. And it’s still very hip - cafes, retro clothing and music stores, 60s memorabilia, the whole shooting match, and all very cool.

We hail an Uber for the trip home. The trip here was excellent, but this guy has not had a good day. He tells us that he’s just broken up with his girlfriend. I’m not quite sure who he’s constantly texting, but his eyes are everywhere but on the road, and it seems only a matter of time until we shear off a mirror or career into the back of a bus. He asks us about kangaroos and which part of Australia Patagonia’s in??? We’ve managed to survive a close shave with a near sinking ferry already today, or at least that’s how it felt, but we mightn’t be so lucky here. Maybe Troy can walk Emma down the aisle next week?

We head down to Fishermans Wharf again for dinner. It’s cold; it’s sooooo cold. I’ve been to the snow a couple of times and I’m sure it wasn’t this bad. I’m pretty sure today’s the longest day of year, so pity help any sun lovers tempted to come here in winter. But all’s good we tell each other; in a few days we’ll be heading to Canada ... to warm up. Who would have thought?

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Alcatraz!
We love this tour and think it is well done. We've been a couple of times and recommend it to everyone. San Franciso does get cold.... frequently.

[DaveandIssy]

San Francisco
It was sooooo cold one night I was sure we must be back in mid winter Melbourne. Very unexpected.