by David Henderson

When a mass escape from Alcatraz was rumored in 1926, Commandant Colonel Maury Cralle's response to prisoners was simple and clear -- "Go ahead, swim!" The frigid waters and strong currents of San Francisco Bay caused many a desperate man to reconsider escaping from the infamous prison on an island -- known as "The Rock" -- throughout its 104-year history. As far as anyone knows, no one ever successfully escaped.

In the decades before it was closed as a prison in 1963, Alcatraz housed hundreds of America's worst criminals in small concrete cells that measured five feet wide, nine feet deep and seven feet high. There was a steel-framed bed with a thin mattress, a sink with a single cold-water tap, toilet with no seat and a small table and chair. Cold winds from the Golden Gate often howled through cracks in the windows.

Alcatraz is still a cold place today -- even during summertime -- as thousands of tourists arrive by ferry after a short ride from San Francisco's Wharf. Supervised by the National Park Service, Alcatraz has become one of the city's top attractions. A chance to see, up-close, what it must have been like on the island and in the cellhouse.

The audio tour of the cellhouse is outstanding -- you experience feelings of isolation and hopelessness as you walk through the rows of cells and understand the motivation behind many of the desperate escape attempts.

The Great Depression, prohibition and the social chaos in the 1920s and '30s all contributed to the rise of the gangster era in America -- illegal liquor and gambling, extortion, bank robberies, kidnapping and other violent crimes. Alcatraz became a place and a symbol of the government's determination to get tough on bad guys, known as "public enemies." It was the most restrictive prison in America. Inmates were there for punishment, not rehabilitation.

To learn more about Alcatraz and for a ferry schedule, check the National Park Service's special web site for Alcatraz -- http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/welcome.html. And, regardless of time of year, it's smart to take along a jacket or sweater on your trip to The Rock.

David Henderson is Founder of BoomerCafé and a strategic communications consultant
in the Washington, DC, area.
His email is david@boomercafe.com

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