America's most famous 20th century prison, Alcatraz Island's significance predates the opening of the Federal Penitentiary in 1963. Named by Spanish explorers in honor of the large number of Pelican's residing on the rocky island, Alcatraz has stood guard over San Francisco Bay since Americans first began settling the area during the California Gold Rush. The United States army began constructing fortifications on Alcatraz Island in 1853 completing the project 7 years later. At the time, the fortification was the largest on the West Coast containing a staggering 111 cannons.

During the Civil War, Alcatraz successfully defended San Francisco harbor from attack by Confederate forces capturing a southern blockade runner, the J.M. CHAPMAN, in the spring of 1863. After the war ended the fortification began to be slowly decommissioned as the need for large coastal defenses diminished.

However, the commanders of Alcatraz found another use for the isolated location and the facility was officially designated as the military prison for the Army of the Pacific. The number of prisoners on Alcatraz increased after the war including a large number of Native American's imprisoned for their resistance to United States Western Expansion.

The Army authorized the expansion of the Military prison at Alcatraz in 1907 and many of the original buildings were destroyed or altered to make way for the new cell blocks and barracks.

In 1933, the US Army turned the facility over to the Federal Prison Bureau for use as a super-prison site capable of incarcerating the worst of the nation's criminals. Alcatraz's new warden, James Johnston, set about creating a model penitentiary where rehabilitation was as important as incarceration. Some of America's most well-known and notorious criminals served time at "The Rock" as it came to be known, including, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Al "Scarface" Capone, and the "Birdman of Alcatraz" Robert Stroud.

After the closing of the federal prison in 1963, Alcatraz drew the attention of members of the growing Native American Rights Movement. Demands for the facility to be rededicated as a Native American Cultural Center and University fell on deaf ears and objectors occupied the island in protest of the decision a number of times, the longest being for 19 months between 1969 and 1971. Every year Alcatraz plays host to a memorial gathering of Native American's as a show of solidarity for the men and women who occupied the island in protest.

Alcatraz Island occupies a specific place in the history of America as one the country's most famous and well-known penitentiaries but the story of "The Rock" is much deeper and significant in the story of American Western Expansion and the development of modern California.

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