The Truth About Alcatraz!: Difference between revisions
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'''The history of the prison island of [[Alcatraz]], from pelicans, to prisoners, to protestors, to park visitors.'''
==Synopsis==
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===Real-life references===
It really happened! [[w:Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary|Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary]] was a real prison on [[w:Alcatraz Island|Alcatraz Island]]. Its nickname, "the Rock", is also mentioned; this moniker for the island predated the federal prison. From history, we also know the following:
*The "captain" who named Alcatraz was Spanish explorer [[w:Juan Manuel de Ayala|Juan Manuel de Ayala]].
*Referred to here as a "prisoner-of-war camp", the [[w:Fort Alcatraz|fort on Alcatraz]] was used as a military prison from 1868 onwards.
*[[w:James A. Johnston|James A. Johnston]] was indeed the first warden of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, and his tenure at [[w:San Quentin Rehabilitation Center|San Quentin]] is also mentioned.
*Joe Bowers is based on [[w:Joseph Bowers|Joseph "Dutch" Bowers]], who was indeed shot during an apparent escape attempt.
*Other prisoners said or depicted to be held in Alcatraz include [[w:Al Capone|Al Capone]], [[w:Mickey Cohen|Mickey Cohen]], [[w:Machine Gun Kelly (gangster)|George "Machine Gun" Kelly]], [[w:Joseph Paul Cretzer|Joseph "Dutch" Cretzer]], and [[w:Robert Stroud|Robert Stroud]]. Stroud and another man are pictured, but the latter does not appear to be any of those mentioned.
*[[w:Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe|Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe]] also participated in a real escape attempt. The comic's mention of there being 14 total escape attempts is historically accurate.
*The "dramatic events" in 1946 are more popularly called the "[[w:Battle of Alcatraz|Battle of Alcatraz]]". Other than Cretzer, the participants were [[w:Bernard Coy|Bernard Coy]], Marvin Hubbard, and [[w:Clarence Carnes|Clarence Carnes]], who were joined by [[w:Sam Shockley|Sam Shockley]] and [[w:Miran Thompson|Miran Thompson]]. Two wardens did indeed die during the battle, and the marines were brought in as reinforcements, referred to here only as "troops".
*Judge Goodman is [[w:Louis Earl Goodman|Louis Earl Goodman]].
*Alcatraz was closed as a federal prison in 1963 as it was too expensive to run. The last registered man was named Frank Weatherman.<ref>[https://www.upi.com/Archives/1963/03/21/Last-Alcatraz-inmates-depart/3411521416108/ "Last Alcatraz inmates depart"] on UPI Archives</ref>
*Native American protestors staged a demonstration on Alcatraz on March 8, 1964. This was followed by the so-called "[[w:Occupation of Alcatraz|Occupation of Alcatraz]]", which lasted between November 20, 1969 and June 11, 1971. [[w:Richard Oakes (activist)|Richard Oakes]] was a key figure. A fire of disputed origin affected the dwindling protest in June 1971.
*The plan signed by [[w:Richard Nixon|Richard Nixon]] was named "An Act to Establish the Golden Gate National Recreation Area", and was a deal for the National Park Service to buy the land from the army.
*"Michigan Boulevard" is indeed a label for one of the street- and landmark-themed corridor names of Alcatraz, though it is more commonly known as "Michigan Avenue".
===Edits===
===Artwork and technical errors===
*Despite saying the prison opened in 1934 and closed in 1963, the comic repeatedly states this to be a period of 28 years, rather than 29.
====Historical inaccuracies====
*The opening caption refers to Alcatraz as being comprised of 12 acres. In reality, it is closer to 22 acres.
*The naming of Alcatraz by Juan Manuel de Ayala is a whole disputed thing:
**Here, he gives it the name "Isla de Alcatraces" – this is actually the modernised version of Ayala's name, "La Isla de los Alcatraces".
**Ayala may have actually given the name La Isla de los Alcatraces to a neighbouring island, [[w:Yerba Buena Island|Yerba Buena Island]], which somehow got switched onto what we now call Alcatraz.
**The name comes from the word "alcatraces", commonly thought to mean "pelicans", but there's a good chance it meant "[[w:Gannet|gannets]]".
*Alcatraz is said to have been uninhabited for a long time before [[w:World War I|World War I]], when it had been a military prison since 1868. The comic calls it a "prisoner-of-war camp", which is a bit of an oversimplification; during this time, it held [[w:American Civil War|Civil War]] prisoners, Native American protestors and, during World War I, conscientious objectors.
*The comic gives January the 1st, 1934 as some sort of significant date for the prison. In reality, the penitentiary opened its doors on August 11th that year.
*The reasoning behind Joseph Bowers' escape attempt is disputed, with his being out of bounds attributed to antagonising the guards, collecting garbage, or feeding seagulls. Regardless, he ignored the guards' signals to stop climbing the fence and was shot.
*Robert Stroud, the famed Birdman of Alcatraz, was not actually permitted to keep birds in the prison. He did so in his previous incarceration at [[w:United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth|Leavenworth]].
*Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe's escape attempt wasn't via a wash-house; they went through the window of a "mat shop", a room where prisoners turned discarded tyres into rubber mats for the U.S. Navy.
*Though the comic is correct on there being 14 recorded escape attempts, the actual breakdown of the figures is slightly incorrect, claiming 39 prisoners attempted, 26 of which were caught, seven shot, and six disappeared. In real life, there were 36 individual attempts (counting two men who tried twice), of which 15 were caught, eight gave up, seven were shot, one confirmed drowned, and five missing.
*It was Bernard Coy, not Joseph Cretzer, who was the real ringleader of the Battle of Alcatraz. It was not intended to be a hostage situation from the outset, with that becoming a desperate back-up plan after their first plot failed. Nine officers were taken hostage, eight of whom were still alive when the marines breached the cell block. Two prison officers did indeed die, but not in the manner depicted here:
**William A. Miller was a hostage, and was shot by Cretzer, but he died from his injuries the following day.
**The other officer, Harold Stites, was hit by friendly fire during the breach.
*Interestingly, the comic skips over the [[w:June 1962 Alcatraz escape attempt|June 1962 escape attempt]], often considered a factor in Alcatraz being put under scrutiny and leading to its closure.
*The "high council of the penitentiary administration", if presented as a proper noun, is made up, presumably a lost-in-translation version of the [[w:Federal Bureau of Prisons|Federal Bureau of Prisons]]. Given the comic's provenance, it may have been influenced by the French equivalent, the [[w:fr:Direction de l'Administration pénitentiaire|Direction de l'Administration pénitentiaire]].
**It's uncertain where the "ninety dollars a day" figure comes from – in real life the cost of Alcatraz's upkeep cost ten dollars per prisoner ''per day''.
*The last prisoners were emptied from Alcatraz on March 21st, 1963, not May 15th. The last prisoner, Frank Weatherman, had a register number of 1575,<ref>[https://www.archives.gov/san-francisco/finding-aids/alcatraz-numeric.html Former Alcatraz Inmates List]</ref> not "A2 1041". Prisoner 1041 was Hiller Arthur Hayes, and the "A2" appears to be a corruption of "AZ", short for "Alcatraz".
*Putting aside the fact that the "Indians" are more properly known as Native Americans...
**The March 8th protest consisted of about 40 people, not the five depicted here.
**Richard Oakes was a key figure, but not a "chief" – he was a university student activist.
**The Oakes-led occupation on November 9th was hardly the gun-toting invasion dramatised here. In real life, it first consisted of him and two other men trying unsuccessfully to swim onto Alcatraz's shore, followed by a later boatful of 14 protestors staying peacefully overnight.
**The fire broke out before June the 11th, and the number of protestors had dwindled from the hundreds there had been at peak. June the 11th was merely the day government forces removed the 15 remaining protestors from the island.
**Also, these depictions of Native Americans are not accurate to the protestors' appearances and have ''not'' aged well.
*Nixon is said to have signed the $119 million plan two years later than June 1971. In real life, he signed it in October 1972, and the funds allocated were $120 million.
===Continuity errors===
*Most of the comic takes place during the James A. Johnston's tenure as warden. If every panel featuring a warden is intended to be him, then his appearance (particularly his weight) fluctuates dramatically.
===Other notes===
*[[Marc-Renier Warnauts]]'s speech bubbles are dope.
==References==
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