10 (In)Famous Alcatraz Prisoners

Between 1934 and 1963, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary housed America’s most dangerous prisoners. Next to the death penalty, a ticket to Alcatraz was the most severe punishment for hardened criminals.In the 1930s, crime was out of control in the United States. In 1932, for example, there were 631 bank robberies. Gangsters would rob a bank, hold a teller hostage, blow up the safe, and make their getaway. In the rural Midwest, the Barker-Karpis gang robbed dozens of banks. They killed anyone who got in their way. In Chicago, Al Capone led a huge crime ring.Not only were these criminals robbing people blind, but they were getting away with it. Gangsters devised new ways to escape prisons. Inmates started riots and attacked guards. So federal authorities rounded up the worst gangsters, troublemakers, and escape artists from prisons around the United States. Alcatraz Island would be their new home.