深入了解恶魔岛的历史

恶魔岛 was turned into a military outpost designed to protect the entrance to the bay from invasion, as it lies at a strategic location facing the open sea. The United States took the island in the Mexican-American War of 1848 and by 1859, after extensive construction and fortification, 阿尔卡特拉斯岛 was the most powerful military fortress west of the Mississippi. It also became home to the west coast's first light house.

Even before it officially became a prison, 阿尔卡特拉斯岛 was used by the U.S. military to hold prisoners because the ice-cold waters and strong currents surrounding it made escape virtually impossible. During the Civil War, confederate sympathizers were sent to 阿尔卡特拉斯岛. In 1895, 一些印第安人, 尤其是来自亚利桑那州的霍皮人, were sent to the island for resisting the U.S. government’s land decrees and educational programs.

恶魔岛监狱:早年

从1898年开始, the island’s prison population continued to grow, 受到美西战争的刺激. In 1907, it was named an official military prison and in 1912, a 600-cell holding complex was completed on 阿尔卡特拉斯岛 (which still stands today) along with a mess hall and hospital to serve it.

1933年，美国退出欧盟.S. Department of Justice took control of 恶魔岛 and turned it into the nation’s top maximum-security penitentiary. Meant to hold America’s most “incorrigible” criminals, it was retrofitted to be even more secure. Each prisoner had their own cell and there was one guard on duty for every three prisoners—all to make escape impossible.

在很多方面, the creation of 阿尔卡特拉斯岛 as a maximum-security prison was caused by a single factor: prohibition. 随着1920年禁酒令的颁布, the United States experienced a crime wave unlike anything ever seen before in the nation's history—and this crime was organized.

Perhaps the most notorious resident of 阿尔卡特拉斯岛 was Al “Scarface” Capone, who served four years here after wardens realized he was still running his Chicago-based crime ring from his prison cell in Georgia. 另一个著名的禁酒时期黑帮, 乔治·"机枪"·凯利, served 17 years at 阿尔卡特拉斯岛 on a kidnapping charge. A gangster listed as “Public Enemy Number One” by the FBI, Alvin “Creepy Karpis” Karpowicz served 25 years at 阿尔卡特拉斯岛, 比其他犯人的时间都长.

恶魔岛的鸟人

No 阿尔卡特拉斯岛 alumni is as interesting as Robert “The Birdman” Stroud. A self-taught ornithologist who kept and studied birds during his time at Leavenworth Penitentiary, Stroud was transferred to 阿尔卡特拉斯岛 after he stabbed and killed a prison guard. Diagnosed as both a genius and a psychopath, he wrote several books about ornithology while in prison, even discovered a cure for a common avian hemorrhaging disease. 

伯特Landcaster, 谁亲自见过裹尸布, depicted his life in the 1962 film “恶魔岛的鸟人”, 可在亚马逊Prime上购买, 这部电影是根据托马斯·E. 盖迪斯.

1969年11月, 一个由近80名印第安人组成的团体, 由莫霍克族的理查德·奥克斯领导, took over 恶魔岛 and occupied it for almost two years. Calling themselves the “Indians of All Tribes”, the movement intended to build a school and cultural center on the island, 以及建立一个永久的社区.

The movement cited the 1868 Treaty of Laramie, which states that abandoned state property can be ceded back to Native Americans. While the Nixon Administration opposed the occupation, it gained widespread support among many Americans, 包括 actor Jane Fonda and rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival, who visited the island and donated money to the cause. 然而, 1971年6月, President Nixon sent federal troops to clear the island and the occupation came to an end.