History Of The Rock

INTRODUCTORY MATERIALS

History Study Reference Information
Reader & Publisher Note
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Downloadable Version in Adobe PFD Format (Download is Free)

I. AN INTRODUCTION TO ALCATRAZ ISLAND

Historical Significance
The Rock Is a Rock: A Description
Alcatraz Gets a Name: Explorers
Fremont's Claim

II. THE FIRST FORTIFICATIONS, 1853-1863

A Natural Redoubt: Planning the Works

First Survey, Joint Board of Engineers and Naval Officers, Board of Engineers for the Pacific Coast, Plan for Alcatraz

Tower and Totten 1853-1856

Engineer Officers, San Francisco, Tower Begins the Works, Temporary Armament, Modifications of the Defenses, Brick and Stone, Engineer Buildings Carpenter's Shop, Blacksmith's Shop, Two Storehouses, Stable, Mess House, Laborers' Barracks Mechanics' Barracks, Office Buildings, Kitchen and Mess Room, Powder House, Water Tank, Wharves, Batteries, South Battery, Three-Gun Battery, State of the Works, June 1855, South Battery, Three-Gun Battery, North Battery, International Friction, The Guns Arrive, 1855, Increasing the Defenses, 1856, Third Year of Work, South Battery, North Battery, West Battery

Lieutenant Prime Takes Charge

Four Batteries and a Guardhouse, South Battery, Three-Gun Battery, North Battery, West Battery, Guardhouse, The Citadel, First Fatality, Defensive Wall

James Birdseye McPherson and Alcatraz

McPherson and the Wind, State of the Works, June 1858, South and Three-Gun Batteries, North Battery, West Battery, Guardhouse, Defensive Barracks, Defensive Walls, Armament Report, 1858, Alcatraz Described, 1859, Citadel and Guardhouse, Social Whirl, Troops Arrive on Alcatraz, Totten Inspects, Appropriations Reduced, 1860, A New Battery, Civil War Stops the Work, McPherson Goes to War

Civil War, Lieutenant Elliot, and Alcatraz

Alcatraz's Armament, Batteries Named, Battery Halleck, Battery Rosecrans, Battery Mansfield, Battery Stevens , Battery Tower, Battery McPherson, Battery McClellan, Battery Prime, Alarms and Scares, Columbiads No Good, Gold, Legal Tender, and a Strike

III. THE YEARS OF TRANSITION

New Armament, Water, Armament Report, June 1863, Modernization, Earth Verses Masonry, Improving the Batteries, New Guns, A Multitude of Tasks, 1864, Photograph Flap, First 15-Inch, Rodman, More Guns, Armament Report, Casemated Barracks, 1864-1866,

George Mendell Carries On

Excavations, Northwest End of Island, Temporary Quarters, "Fort McPherson", Employment of Military Convicts, Uncertainties and Delays, 15-Inch Gun Platforms, Armament Report, 1866 - 129 Weapons, New Board of Engineers for the Pacific Coast, Appropriations Reduced, 1867, Detailed Report of Alcatraz's Defenses

IV. ALCATRAZ'S DEFENSES REVAMPED, 1869-1876

The Plans

Board of Engineer's Report, Alcatraz's Batteries Re-designated, Proposals for Alcatraz, Military Prisoners Excavate, Defense Project Approved, 1870, Estimate for New Project, Modest Beginnings, Experimental Platforms for 15-Inch Guns, Depressing Gun Carriages, Armament Report, Depressing Gun Carriage, Again

Reconstructing the Batteries

Batteries 2, 4, and 5, Alcatraz's Tunnel, Work on Platforms Suspended, Permanent Barracks Proposed, The Project Progresses, Total Armament - Three 15-Inch Guns, A Name for Alcatraz's Works, Appropriations Reduced, Leveling Southeast End of the Island, Barracks on Casemates, Rodmans Mounted; Construction Appropriations Cease, 1876

V. THE LAST YEARS AS A FORTIFIED PLACE, 1876-1907

Prisoner Maintenance
Centennial of American Revolution
Mendell's Activities
Citadel Remodeled
Engineer Buildings
Submarine Mines
Mine Storage on Alcatraz
Mine Casemate

Armament Changes, 1876-1894
Alcatraz Disarmed, Spanish-American War, The Fate of the 15-Inch Rodmans.

Alcatraz and the Endicott System, Permanent Military Prison
General MacArthur on Fortifications, Alcatraz to be Prison

VI. GARRISON LIFE ON THE ROCK, 1859-1934

Occupation and the Civil War
Life on the Rock, 1865-1900
A New Look, 1900-1934
Commanding Officers, 1859-1916
Army Units Stationed on Alcatraz, 1859-1916
Miscellany

VII. THE MILITARY PRISON

Civil War and Origins of Prison

The First Departmental Prison, 1865-1900
The Prison, The Prisoners

Permanent Prison and Professionalism
Upper and Lower Prisons, A Permanent Prison, Inmates and Regulations

VIII. FOR DESPERATE OR IRREDEEMABLE TYPES U.S. PENITENTIARY

Transition to Maximum Security
The Warden and the Guards
The Incorrigibles
Development and Administration, 1934-1963
The Prisoners - Strikes, Riots, and Escapes
Some Statistics, "They never give a guy a break"
Strikes, Killings, and Escape Attempts
The Battle of Alcatraz

IX. THE ALCATRAZ LIGHT
X. SCHEMES AND DREAMS

NOTE: The Remaining Sections of the Historic Structure "Evaluations and Recommendations" from 1972, Maps, Charts and Appendicies are all provided in the download version (Available Free in the Introductory Materials Section).