The Notorious Inmates of Alcatraz
Located in the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Island was originally explored by Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775, a Spaniard, who named the island Isla de los Alcatraces, meaning ‘island of the pelicans’.
In the 1850s, the U.S army built a fortress to protect the San Franciscans from war, but it was never used, and instead became a military prison. In 1909, the fortress was pulled down and the new prison was…