by Kelly Saunders

Created on: October 31, 2008

A Night at the Rock.

Alcatraz Island in San Francisco is one of the most celebrated maximum-security prisons in the world. Surrounded by water and almost impossible to escape, the history behind this prison is captivating. Travel enthusiast and photographer, Kelly N. Saunders, takes you on a journey inside the sinister prison walls.

Alcatraz Island sits in the middle of the Bay between San Francisco and Oakland, California and named for its stiff, rocky terrain. Alcatraz Island has been distinguished and recognized in history for several unique reasons. It was home to the first ever functioning lighthouse and United States Army outpost on the West Coast, was a federal military penitentiary and was occupied by the "Indians of All Tribe" alliance at one point. It was operational as a prison for almost thirty years during 1934 to 1963.

Wardens from the entire country were written and told of the prison's facilities and its ability to house their most unruly prisoners. Giving them the opportunity to free space in their own overcrowded prisons, the wardens accepted almost immediately. Some of the very first and most notorious prisoners included Al "Scarface" Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Alvin Karpis, Robert Stroud aka The Birdman of Alcatraz and Floyd Hamilton.

You certainly would not have wanted to be one of the ill-fated souls who ended up spending a lengthy jail term in this prison, but you also would not have wanted to break the rigid rules while being housed there. Alcatraz was built specifically to be America's first and only "escape proof" prison of its day. Having very tiny cells, no windows, a taut and structured daily routine, work days that included hard manual toil and virtually no time to eat or rest, the prisoners were watched, counted and guarded at all times but unruly and disruptive prisoners were a daily occurrence. The punishments for rebelliousness were strict and callous to the point of being cruel and unusual. Many inmates testing those boundaries often found themselves locked in solitary confinement, losing simple but necessary privileges, hard labor, little or no food and yes, even the ol ball and chain. These punishments had very apropos names as well.

The Strip Cell was an empty, dark dungeon that had one hole in the floor and left the prisoner naked and in complete darkness for approximately one or two days or more depending on the severity of the infraction. There was also The Hole, which was not unlike the Strip Cell in that it was

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