alcatraz: a history lesson

guys, alcatraz is probz the coolest place i've ever been to. not only was it just an awesome and beautiful place, but it's got some crazy stories within. so, i will now give you an alcatraz history lesson.

first a few fun facts:

-alcatraz only served as a federal penitentiary for 29 years

-correctional officers AND their families lived on the island, the children would travel

into the city by boat every morning for school 

-the audio tour is given by actual officers and inmates

-al capone was only on the island for 4 years

-there was no talk of alcatraz being haunted, but i'm not convinced

-i was also talked into the fact that mermaids exist by my sister, 

but that has nothing to do with alcatraz

-there were a total of 36 prisoners making 14 escape attempts. 

The Battle of Alcatraz

THIS guy is the brains behind this escape attempt. he created the plan

while working in the library. he found a weak spot in the bars and made this tool to spread them

then starved himself to be able to fit through.

THIS guy hid a key in his jacket before being thrown into a cell by the conspirators. that

happened to be the key the men needed to escape. he was shot cold blood in the cell he was being held hostage in.

THIS guy quickly wrote the names of the conspirators name's down on the cell wall

and circled the names of the leaders in case they escaped.

THIS guys was only 18 . 18!! he is also the only conspirator that was not executed.

and lastly, liv thinks THIS guy is attractive. then she said she felt guilty 

for thinking an inmate was attractive.

it was a two day battle which eventually had to involve the U.S. Marines who left these:

from throwing bombs into the prison (filled in later... probably had too many

people tripping on them.)

these guys made fake heads and worked for over a year to chip at the 

cement to make the vents bigger to slip out

they climbed up the drain pipes, onto the roof and down the sides and onto a raft

made out of rain coats.

if you're as interested in the escape stories as i am, you can go HERE

and scroll down a little to read more details

they had these isolated cells that you would just sit in the pitch black

there was a story of one man who would entertain himself by pulling a button off

his jumpsuit, throw it up in the air then search for it. over and over and over.

the 4 wardens

the courtyard

the library

it would be so torturous to be able to see this everyday, and not be able to 

leave. worst of the worst.

after it was shut down as a prison, native american's took over the island

as horrid as it would be to be locked up there, it was just a beautiful place

(plus the lighting inside was fantastic for picture taking)

if you've made it this far, i hope you enjoyed my little history lesson