ALCATRAZ HISTORY - Escape Attempts 1936-1962
ALCATRAZ HISTORY
ESCAPE ATTEMPTS
Legend holds that escape from Alcatraz was impossible. As with most legends, this one is not entirely true.
But what about the man-eating sharks that surround the island? There are sharks, all right, but they're small bottom-feeders. Oh, but that freezing water! Swimming in 50ºF water for more than a mile against strong currents doesn't sound promising. Surely that's enough to deter even the most determined escapee? It might have discouraged an inmate but thanks to a teenage girl who swam the distance by herself in 1934, the world knows the trip is not impossible. Fitness guru Jack LaLanne went one better – he swam to the island pulling a rowboat! And since the prison's closure in 1963, two 10-year-old children also made the trip. Surely an angry convict in halfway decent physical shape could have gone the distance.
It's true, though, that records indicate nobody ever successfully escaped from Alcatraz. There are five prisoners listed as "missing and presumed drowned," but no record of an inmate who reached land without getting caught. Thirty-six inmates tried to escape in 14 different attempts during Alcatraz's 29-year history. Here's a summary of each attempt.
27 April, 1936 - Joe Bowers was shot while climbing over the chain link fence on the west side of the island. He fell 100 feet to the shore below and died from his injuries.
16 December, 1937 - Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe escaped. Officially, they are listed as missing and presumed dead. Currents in the Bay were very strong that night.
23 May, 1938 - James Limerick, Jimmy Lucas and Rufus Franklin killed Officer Cline with a hammer and climbed to the roof to disarm Officer Stites. He shot Limerick (who died from his injuries) and Franklin. Lucas and Franklin received life sentences for Cline's murder.
13 January, 1939 - Arthur 'Doc' Barker, Dale Stamphill, William Martin, Henry Young and Rufus McCain were found on the west side shore of the island by officers. Martin, Young and McCain surrendered, Stamphill and Barker were shot. Barker died.
21 May, 1941 - Joe Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Arnold Kyle and Lloyd Barkdoll were convinced to surrender after taking several officers hostage.
15 September, 1941 - John Bayless gave up shortly after noticing how cold the water of the Bay was. He even tried to escape from the courtroom during his trial.
14 April, 1943 - James Boarman, Harold Brest, Floyd Hamilton and Fred Hunter took two officers hostage while at work in the industries area. All four of them climbed out a window and made it to the water's edge. One of the hostages was able to get help and alert other officers to the escape attempt. Hunter and Brest were both apprehended, Boarman was shot and drowned, his body was never recovered. Initially presumed drowned, Hamilton was discovered alive two days later back in the very same industries area where the escape attempt began.
7 August, 1943 - Huron 'Ted' Walters disappeared from the prison laundry building. He was caught at the shoreline.
31 July, 1945 - John Giles, who had managed to steal a uniform, calmly boarded an Army launch to San Francisco. As the launch reached Angel Island, he was immediately caught and returned.
2-4 May, 1946 – This attempt is known as the "Battle of Alcatraz" or the "Alcatraz Blastout." Bernard Croy, Joe Cretzer, Marvin Hubbard, Sam Shockley, Miran Thompson and Clarence Carnes started it. Twenty officers were injured (some accounts say 18) and two were killed when the six prisoners took control of the cell house.US Marines were called in. The 'Alcatraz Blastout' ended with Coy, Cretzer and Hubbard found dead, Shockley and Thompson sent to the St Quentin gas chamber and Carnes receiving a second life sentence.
23 July, 1956 - Floyd Wilson was discovered at the shoreline after several hours of hiding.
29 September, 1958 - Aaron Burgett and Clyde Johnson overpowered a correctional officer and tried to swim from the island. Johnson was caught swimming, Burgett's body was found floating in the bay two weeks later.
11 June, 1962 - Frank Morris, and brothers John and Clarence Anglin disappeared from their cells and were never seen again. They are officially listed as missing and presumably drowned. This is the attempt made famous by the Clint Eastwood movie, Escape from Alcatraz.
16 December, 1962 - John Paul Scott and Darl Parker were the last prisoners to try to escape. Parker was discovered on a small rock near the island and returned. Scott, who had tried to swim towards San Francisco, was pulled out to the sea by the strong currents. He was found suffering from shock and hypothermia near Fort Point and was taken to the Presidio Army hospital before he was returned to the Rock.
http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/battle1.htm - for more on the Battle of Alcatraz.
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