Alcatraz

The Island of Alcatraz seen from the ferry.

Most people probably know the Island of Alcatraz as an infamous United States Federal prison. It has, however, been many different things, too. Today it is a national park and a very popular tourist destination. Previously it has been a coastal artillery fort and a military prison, and from 1969 to 1971 it was occupied by Native Ameican activists. More detailed information is available in Wikipedia.

Graffitti by Native American can be seen for example on the water tower.

Alcatraz still belongs to the Federal Government, and it is administered by the National Park Service (NPS). During our trip tu the U.S. we visited several National Parks and other NPS-administered places. Without exception, they were taken care of excellently. In Alcatraz we took a Park Ranger-led tour about the history of the island before it became a Federal Prison in 1934. The tour was very informative and wasn't trying to paint the tragic history in bright colors. The guide told, for example, about the Native Ameican Hopi who in late 19th century were imprisoned in Alcatraz as prisones of war because they refused to send their 6-year old children to Federal boarding school dozens of miles away from their homes.

There are, surprisingly, quite a number of beatiful flowers in Alcatraz.

The main sell block can be toured with an audio guide (available in several languages, but no in Finnish, unsurprisingly). This guide, too, is outstandingly well produced. The visitors can listen to recordings of former prisoners, guards and guards families first-hand accounts on life in Alcatraz. The conditions were undeniably harsh, but probably better than in, say, Finnish prisons at the time. There was, for example, plumbing and a modern toilet in every cell, whereas in Finland many prisoners ha to use a tin bucket well into 1960s. Those prisoners who complied to the institutions' rules also got priviledges, such as newspaper subscriptions and educational opportunities. Even food was, according to the prisoners, relatively good, sometimes even delicious.

A cell in Alcatraz.

A corridor in cell block, there are three levels of cells.

Alcatraz is only a short distance from central San Francisco, and the sounds of celebrations on the New Years' Eve and 4th of July were audible in the cells. One can only imagine how bitter it must have felt for the prisoners. No one managed to escape Alcatraz Federal Prison alive from 1934 to 1963. However, three prisoners managed to break out of the building and tried to swim off the island to freedom. They were never seen again. One of the prisoners speaking on the audioguide told that he believed that they survived and went to South America. Everyone else assume that they drowned.

Those who plan to visit Alcatraz should book their tickets early, it can be done online. In high season the tickets frequently sell out weeks in advance, and even in early June the island was full booked days in advance. When in Alcatraz, beware of poo-bombing seagulls.

Viimeisen vangin näkemys.

We visited Alcatraz on June 6th 2015.