Alcatraz Island had been a military fortification since the Civil War. In 1934, the federal government converted it into a maximum-security penitentiary for prisoners other prisons couldn't handle - escape artists, troublemakers, and famous criminals who attracted too much attention elsewhere.

The prison was designed for security, not rehabilitation. Cells measured 5 by 9 feet. Prisoners had no privileges - no newspapers, no radio, no information about the outside world. Work and silence were the only activities. Alcatraz was punishment, pure and simple.

Alcatraz housed America's most notorious criminals. Al Capone arrived in 1934, spending four years on the Rock before syphilis destroyed his mind. George 'Machine Gun' Kelly served 17 years. Robert Stroud, the 'Birdman of Alcatraz,' actually kept no birds there - the famous birds were at his previous prison.

Most inmates weren't famous, just difficult. Alcatraz held about 250 men at a time - a small, intensely supervised population. Every count had to match. Every movement was watched. The prison existed to break men who had broken other prisons.

Officially, no one successfully escaped from Alcatraz. But 36 men tried in 14 separate attempts. Most were caught on the island or in the water. Several were shot. Some drowned - or at least their bodies were found.

The Battle of Alcatraz in 1946 saw six inmates take guards hostage in an escape attempt. Marines were called in. Three inmates and two guards died. The island proved it could be taken by force - briefly - but escape remained elusive.

On June 11, 1962, Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers vanished. They had spent months chipping through cell walls with spoons, creating dummy heads from soap and human hair, and building a raft from raincoats. They climbed through ventilation shafts to the roof and disappeared into the bay.

Their fate remains unknown. The official conclusion: they drowned. But no bodies were ever found. Circumstantial evidence suggests they may have survived - flower deliveries to their mother, a photo that might show them in Brazil, a deathbed letter claiming they lived for decades. The FBI kept the case open until 1979. The mystery endures.

Alcatraz closed on March 21, 1963, less than a year after the famous escape. The official reason was cost - saltwater corroded everything, and maintenance was astronomical. The unofficial reason: the escape had proven the prison wasn't escape-proof after all.

Today, Alcatraz is a national park, drawing 1.5 million visitors annually. Tour boats cross the bay to the island where America's most dangerous criminals once lived. The cells remain. The gun galleries remain. The mystery of June 11, 1962, remains. The Rock keeps its secrets.