Ayala didn't feel the island had anything to offer. For, around Alcatraz his newly discovered "La Isla de los Alcatraces" he found swift currents, no inhabitants, very little vegetation, and a lot of barren ground. Juan was right. At least for the next seven decades.
In 1847 the U.S. Army noted the stratgic importance of small island and began geological surveys. By 1853 the U.S. Army had begun construction of a military fortress and the Pacific Coast's first working light house!
After several years of work on the island the military had cannons that were capable of striking hostile ships 3 miles away. Even so, Alcatraz was only used once, and failed as a military fortress when it fired at an unidentified ship and missed.
Within a few decades the military changed the island from a fortress to a prison. It was a natural place for isolating those the Army wanted to hold due to the strong currents and cold water. This would be the Army's first long-term prison. So, in 1861 the island began to receive Civil War prisoners. Before the turn of the next century the Spanish-American War surged the island's prisoner population from a mere 26 at the end of the Civil War to over 450 at the end of the Spanish-American.
Then, in 1906 San Francisco was hit with a catastrophic earthquake and non-military prisoners were transported to Alcatraz for "safe-keeping." This led to new structures being built and soon they too were filled to capacity. A three-story structure built in the center of the island in 1920 was almost full. But in the 1930's, due to rising operating costs, the Army closed the prison in 1934.
Alcatraz didn't stay closed for long. It was turned over to the Bureau of Prisons and seen as a solution to dealing with crime in the heartland. Many infamous criminals would be sent there over the coming years.
Alcatraz was a federal maximum security prison from 1934-March 23, 1963. Now, millions of people pay to visit "The Rock" each year.
For a number of years the island was abandonded. Then, on November 9, 1969 a group of Mohawk Indians and their supporters using the chartered boat, the Monte Cristo, set out to Alcatraz to symbolically occupy the island. On the 20th of November the occupation turned from symbolic to full-scale and lasted for a year and a half, until June 11, 1971.
The occupation of Alcatraz didn't end because the Indian's gave up their quest to have a cultural center and college, but because President Nixon had given orders to storm the island and arrest the Indian's. You can read about their occupation, demands, and arrests, here.
Click on the camera to see pictures from "The Rock"
Order Tickets To Cruize San Francisco Bay
I am asking the following of visitors to my site:
DO NOT Order Tickets To Visit Alcatraz! DO NOT go to Alcatraz. Why? A ten-year contract was given to a non-union company which absolutely refuses to hire union workers.
The A.F.L.-C.I.O., the I.L.W.U. the ALCATRAZ UNION (supported by the Inland Boatsman Union, the marine division of ILWU), and the
I.L.A.-A.F.L.-C.I.O.
unions are the unions imacted by this contract. The company awarded the contract did not even have the boats necessary to ferry tourists to the island and now they have underpaid, probably underskilled, and in some instances probably unskilled workers. Knowing that, I would not cruise out to Alcatraz myself. I visited the island in March of 2000.
I am asking all of those whom are in favor of unions and/or support unions not to take a tour to Alcatraz. Every day this nations loses more and more good paying and highly skilled union jobs.
If you feel as I do, and as the unions are asking the "public to boycott tours to the island until the ferry once more operates with union labor," contact your
SENATORS by going HERE and look for the two U.S. Senators from your state. Write your CONGRESSPERSON in the U.S. House of Representatives. You can contact him or her HERE.
Someone should not be disqualified for a job because they belong to a union. It's clear discrimination. If the same practice was adopted using race and/or sex as the disqualifier, the company would be in serious trouble. Why should any company ever be allowed to not hire union workers JUST because they belong to a union.
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last updated 31 January 2007
updated 6 January 2007
updated 20 December 2006
updated 12 November 2006
updated 16 March 2006
updated 5 January 2005
added 4 November 2001
