An escape from Alcatraz

Alcatraz

According to Britannica, Alcatraz was one of the most secure federal prisons at the time was operating (1934-1963). It was located on a lonely island in the middle of San Francisco Bay and had held prisoners since the Civil War. During its time as a prison 36 men tried 14 different escapes. Most of them were caught or didn’t survive the attempt. However, three inmates’ escapes still remain a mystery today.

Today, Alcatraz operates as a museum.  Teacher Carl Finer visited two years ago, on a field trip to San Francisco with a group of student-editors.  He said, “It was dark, we had to take a ferry over there, the water was like cold and kind of choppy and you could imagine being locked up in a cell, seeing light and hearing the noise from across the bay in the city.”

Planning the escape

According to the FBI, the people in the escape were Frank Morris, Allen West, and the brothers John Anglin and Clarence Anglin. The escape took months to plan. It all started when the prisoners were able to sneak spoons in their cells. They used the spoons to dig around a vent they had in their room. They created paper mache vents to cover the digging in the walls. They also made a drill from the motor of a broken vacuum to speed up the process. When they were able to go through the vents, they then made fake paper mache heads to put in their bed the day of the escape. They then made a raft out of inflated raincoats to use to get to land after they escaped the prison.

The day of the escape

According to a video from History, it was the evening of June 11 when the escape took place. The escapees put their fake heads in their beds and tucked in the blankets to make it look like their bodies. After that they went through the vents they had dug into. They then used the pipes to get to the roof of the prison and leave. They got on their inflated raincoat raft and left through the dangerous waters of the San Francisco bay. After that they were never to be seen again.

The next day

According to the video from History, the next morning of June 12 the men didn’t respond to roll call and a guard went to go check their cells. He tapped the fake head of Frank Morris and it fell off the bed to the ground. Word spread and everyone knew they had escaped. But guards also noticed Allen West had a fake head in his bed, but he hadn’t escaped. The reason he gave was because he failed to leave his cell on time. They started to investigate him and ask him questions about the escape and he gave them all the information about the planned escape and the process of doing it.

There is no answer to this day if the three escapees survived their escape.