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Product Description Escape from the ordinary and break into Alcatraz, America's most famous prison! The island of Alcatraz has always been a place that's fascinated visitors, from the Native American tribes who believed it was home to evil spirits to the Spanish explorers who discovered the island. In modern times, it was a federal prison for only 29 years, but now draws over a million visitors each year. Learn the history of America's most famous prison, from its initial construction as a fort in the 1800s, to its most famous residents such as Al Capone and "Machine Gun" Kelly. Where Is Alcatraz? also chronicles some of the most exciting escape attempts—even one that involved chipping through stone with spoons and constructing rafts out of raincoats! About the Author Nico Medina is the author of Where Is Mount Everest? and Who Was Julius Caesar? He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Where Is Alcatraz? On a cool and foggy day in San Francisco, California, hundreds of people are waiting to board a large ferryboat. They bought their tickets days, weeks, even months in advance. Young and old have come here from all across the United States. Some have traveled from Japan, Brazil, and India. All these people are at Pier 33 in San Francisco for one reason: to go to prison! But not just any prison. They are here to see Alcatraz, the most famous prison in American history. Today, Alcatraz Island—also known as “The Rock”—is a national park visited by more than a million people every year. It is reached by boat, one and a half miles across from San Francisco. The violent criminals who once called The Rock home—men like Al “Scarface” Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly—no longer live there. Nowadays the island’s residents are mostly nesting seabirds. However, the prison that held criminals for nearly three decades still stands. Years of pounding waves and stiff sea breezes have eroded its walls, causing the buildings to slowly crumble. But the legends of Alcatraz—tales of evil spirits, dark dungeons, and bold escape attempts—live on to this day. Chapter 1: Island of the Pelicans The first human visitors to Alcatraz Island were probably Native Americans. They may have rowed their canoes there to fish and collect eggs from seabirds’ nests. But they wouldn’t live on the island. They may have used it as a place to banish people. They believed evil spirits haunted the island. Alcatraz Island, in foggy San Francisco Bay, remained hidden from Spanish explorers for more than two centuries. In 1775, a young Spanish naval officer named Juan Manuel de Ayala was the first to spot The Rock, which was covered in pelicans. He named the steep, barren island Isla de los Alcatraces—or “Island of the Pelicans” in Spanish. On June 29, 1776, Spanish colonists founded a mission, or church, on the mainland. They named the mission after Saint Francis of Assisi—or “San Francisco” in Spanish. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, San Francisco and the rest of California became part of Mexico. In 1846, the United States and Mexico began a bloody war over land in the West. The United States took over California after the Mexican-American War ended in 1848. That same year, gold was discovered in California! San Francisco was a small town until the Gold Rush. As people moved west in search of gold, the city’s population exploded, from a few hundred in 1848 to over thirty thousand just one year later. San Francisco quickly became America’s biggest and most important city on the West Coast. America needed to defend it against its enemies. Alcatraz Island, standing guard over San Francisco in the middle of the bay, was the perfect place for a fortress. Work began on Fort Alcatraz in 1853. One man said the island was nothing but solid rock covered by a tiny bit of soil, with a “crust” of bird poop on top! The sandstone on Alcatra
