Ever since Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary opened as a maximum security prison in 1934 on a desolate island in the middle of San Francisco Bay, authorities have touted it as “America’s safest prison. “. In its nearly 30 years of activity, inmates have put that reputation to the test with a litany of escape attempts ranging from the most modest to the most outrageous.
Over the past three decades, the infamous prison known as “The Rock” has housed more than 1,500 inmates, including some of America’s most notorious and dangerous men. During this period, 36 inmates attempted to escape in 14 separate daring escape attempts:
April 27, 1936: Joseph Bowers
Flight or suicide? The debate continues over how to classify the very first Alcatraz co-op theft attempt. Joseph Bowers, described as lonely and desperate by his fellow inmates (and described by some as an insane criminal), was serving a 25-year sentence for theft of mail when, one afternoon while working at the waste incinerator, he tried to climb a fence on the edge of the island. After ignoring orders to stop climbing, Bowers was shot by guards after reaching the top of the fence, falling 50 to 100 feet to his death.
December 16, 1937: Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe
For their escape, Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe pushed their way through the flat bars of the prison windows and ran towards San Francisco Bay. Unfortunately for the two convicted Oklahoma bank robbers, their timing couldn’t have been worse. A particularly severe sea storm is said to have swept Cole and Roe to their deaths.
May 23, 1938: Rufus Franklin, Thomas R. Limerick and James C. Lucas
First, this trio attacked prison warden Royal Cline with a hammer, inflicting fatal injuries on him. Then, as they tried to get past the prison guard tower, Limerick and Franklin were shot dead. Limerick died of his injuries. Lucas and Franklin, recaptured and charged with Cline’s murder, were both sentenced to death.
January 13, 1939: Arthur ‘Doc’ Barker, William Martin, Rufus McCain, Henri Young and Dale Stamphill
These five people, led by Doc Barker of the infamous “Bloody Barker” gang, escaped the isolation unit after sawing through iron bars from their cell windows and leaping about 30 feet onto the banks of the river. San Francisco Bay. They were quickly encountered by armed correctional officers. Martin, Young and McCain surrendered, while Barker and Stamphill were shot when they refused to surrender. Barker died of his injuries.
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May 21, 1941: Joe Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Arnold Kyle, Lloyd Barkdoll
More of a hijacking than an escape, the attempt of these four men began and ended with the taking hostage by prisoners of several Alcatraz correctional officers, including Paul Madigan, who would become the third warden of the penitentiary. Madigan and the officers, however, gained the upper hand after convincing the thieves they could never escape after the prisoners failed to cut off Alcatraz’s “tool-resistant” bars.
September 15, 1941: John Richard Bayless
Bayless was on the garbage details when he decided to run away. But a shot from the freezing waters proved too much, as Bayless quickly reconsidered and gave up.
However, one failed attempt was not enough to deter Bayless permanently. When he appeared in court to appeal his sentence, he tried (unsuccessfully) to escape the courtroom.
WATCH: Inside Alcatraz: Legends of the Rock on HISTORY Vault.
April 14, 1943: James Boarman, Harold Brest, Floyd Hamilton, Fred Hunter
These four inmates used jail-made knives to take two correctional officers hostage, tie them up and gag them before escaping through a jail window and jumping into San Francisco Bay. Before they got too far, however, one of the guards who had been taken hostage escaped and sounded the alarm. As they tried to swim away, the four men were shot by the Alcatraz guards. Hunter and Brest were apprehended. Boarman was shot in the water and his body was swept away by the current. Hamilton was believed to have drowned until he returned to prison two days later after hiding in a nearby shore cave.
August 7, 1943: Huron Ted Walters
Huron Ted Walters was working in the prison laundry room when he took his break for freedom. But like many before him, he didn’t even reach the water, being apprehended by officers on the shore.
July 31, 1945: John K. Giles
Technically speaking, John Giles escaped the island. While a prisoner at Alcatraz, Giles’ job was to unload dirty army laundry from the loading dock to be cleaned at the penitentiary. One morning at around 10:40 a.m., after spending several years piecing together a uniform resembling a U.S. Army technical sergeant, Giles calmly walked out of prison and climbed onto an Army launch boat under cover. to be a military officer. Almost immediately, things turned sour. Officers aboard the Army ship noticed that they had one extra man while the Alcatraz wharf patrollers noticed too few convicts. There was also the problem with Giles’ uniform: it fit badly and looked different from those of his “fellow officers” on board. At 11 a.m. he was apprehended and on his way back to the Rock.
May 2-4, 1946: Bernard Coy, Marvin Hubbard, Joseph Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Miran Thompson and Clarence Carnes
Photographic diagram of the Battle of Alcatraz which took place at the Federal Penitentiary of Alcatraz May 2-4, 1946. This aerial photo of the island identifies the main buildings and locations of violence during the incident: 1. shoes and furniture; 2. power station; 3. prisoner’s yard; 4. men’s room and kitchen; 5. main cell block; 6. administration and prefect; 7. caretaker’s house; 8. unloading dock; 9. keeper’s playground; 10. gangway; 11. guard tour; 12. dock. The guards threw tear gas canisters into the cell block (5) from the gangway (10). Convicts not rioting had gathered in the courtyard (3) to the left of where the main battle was raging.
Bettmann Archives / Getty Images
The most famous escape attempt, known as the “Battle of Alcatraz,” resulted from a bloody three-day standoff between prisoners and guards. On May 2, six prisoners controlled the cell offices and gained access to the prison’s arms and ammunition reserve. A promising start fell apart, however, after prisoners realized that they did not have the necessary courtyard keys to leave the prison. So instead of surrendering, the prisoners spent days fighting the officers. The standoff, which became so intense that US Marines were called in, left two dead and 18 injured. As for the prisoners? Coy, Cretzer and Hubbard were killed. In the aftermath, Shockley, Thompson and Carnes were charged with killing the two officers. They were sentenced to death and eventually executed with lethal gas while Carnes, who was 19, received a second life sentence.
READ MORE: 10 Things You May Not Know About Alcatraz
July 23, 1956: Floyd Wilson
Floyd Wilson disappeared from his job one morning while working as a warehouseman on the Alcatraz wharf. His sudden absence sparked an almost 12-hour manhunt that eventually found the escapee hiding in a rock depression along the Alcatraz shore.
September 29, 1958: Aaron Burgett, Clyde Johnson
While working as garbage collectors, thieves Burgett and Johsnon overpowered, tied up and gagged an officer with a knife point before attempting to swim from the island. The two, however, were not up to the tides. Johnson was grabbed by officers while in the water and Burgett’s body was found floating in the bay two days later.
June 11, 1962: Frank Morris, John and Clarence Anglin
A photograph showing the cell where one of the three prisoners escaped from Alcatraz on June 12, 1962. A dummy head was used to confuse the guards and sheets were used to conceal his exit under the sink.
Bettmann Archives / Getty Images
The only escape attempt with an uncertain end. Brothers John and Clarence Anglin, as well as Frank Morris, began their escape with a bit of cunning: After stuffing believable papier-mâché heads with real hair into their beds to trick the night guards, the trio used ventilation holes at the back of their cells to access public service pipes and access the prison roof. From there, the escapees took down a drain hose and headed for the water, where they had makeshift life jackets made from prison raincoats and a raft awaited them.
From there, they took to the rapids, which we never heard from again. Several weeks later, a body dressed in the same way as the one the escapees were said to have carried was found severely decomposed. Although the identity of the man has never been confirmed, it was widely believed to be one of the convicts, with the same fate believed to be with the other three. Seventeen years later, the incredible escape was captured by Hollywood in the film Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood
December 16, 1962: John Paul Scott, Darl Lee Parker
After bending the bars on the kitchen windows in the prison basement, Scott and Parker got out and headed for the bay in an attempt to make their way to freedom. Strong currents forced the two activists to abandon their projects. Within hours, the two were found clinging to rocky outcrops in the bay, unable to brave its tumultuous waters.
