The Rock

Alcatraz was the title of this particular institution, and it was nicknamed The Rock.

The island of Alcatraz was bitterly cold, highly mysterious, and extremely isolated. Situated in the south-western portion of San Francisco Bay, slightly over one mile from scrumptious Fisherman’s Wharf, the 12 acre rock formation constantly drew the attention of the curious.

Extremely little vegetation could ever be grown or found on Alcatraz because of the large interlocking formations of boulders there; hence, the nickname, “The Rock”.

Alcatraz received its formal name from a Spanish explorer named, Juan Manuel de Ayala. In 1775, he led an expedition into San Francisco Bay, and landed on the island. Soon afterward, his scouts discovered a large number of a rare bird species called, “Alcatraces”. Later, in his log book, Ayala referred to the strange body of land as the “Island of Alcatraces”. Within a couple of decades, the name would be shortened to Alcatraz.

The United States Federal Government seized control of “The Rock” in 1851, and established a powerful military fortress there. This was done, on the orders of then President Fillmore, in response to the massive influx of people to northern California as a result of the Gold Rush. Fillmore worried that the city of San Francisco was vulnerable to foreign invaders trying to steal all of the new wealth and riches. He was determined to prevent that from happening.

To that end, U.S. Army engineers constructed an enormous and impressive citadel, capable of housing nearly 200 troops, on the highest point on the island. The U.S. Army followed this up by shipping more than 100 heavy cannon to Alcatraz to further reinforce the garrison. When this was completed, by the late 1850’s, Alcatraz became, by far, the single most fortified military site on the west coast of the United States. In fact, it could even rival some of the forts on the east coast as well.

Incredibly, all of this time and energy was all for naught. There were never any invasions, or even threats of such. As a result, by 1909, Alcatraz had been reduced to the title of Worlds Largest Watchdog over a few degenerate military prisoners. It continued to fulfill this role for more than twenty years. Then, in 1933, all this abruptly changed. The U.S. Army transferred ownership and control of the island fortress to the United States Department of Justice for direct use by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.