There were many different prisoners during Alcatraz prison’s time of existence. Some prisoners from Alcatraz were Rufus Franklin, Thomas R. Limerick, James C. Lucas, Theodore Cole, Ralph Roe, Joseph “Dutch” Bowers, Clarence Anglin, John William Anglin, Frank Lee Morris, Arthur “Doc” Barker, Rufus Mcain, William Martin, Lloyd H. Barkdoll, Joseph Paul Cretzer, Arnold Thomas Kyle, Sam R. Shockly, James A. Boarman, Harold Martin Brest, Floyd G. Hamilton, Fred Hunter, and Henri Young. These prisoners tried to escape from Alcatraz and were either shot, drowned, or caught.
The prisoners that tried to escape were all caught and put back in Alcatraz. In Alcatraz history not one prisoner escaped but many tried. Some prisoners managed to get off the island, but they were caught once they hit the water or landed in San Francisco. Most of the prisoners that tried to escape were either new or they had been at Alcatraz for a long time.
The prisoners that were caught were severely punished. Most of them went into the “Dungeon Hole”, or they went to cell block D. Alcatraz was the United States’ top federal prison. The prison was closed down because of a man who tried to escape named Henri Young, he brought the prison to court because they were torturing him.
Different prisoners tried to escape in different ways. Some prisoners used spoons to dig holes in the rock walls, other prisoners made dummies from magazine pages and newspapers. Some prisoners would dig tunnels from there cells to the outside with there spoons. The prisoners that had spoons stole them from the prison during meal times. Prisoners that got out side the prison and into the water took mattresses and other flotation devices.
Henri Young was the prisoner that closed down Alcatraz. He closed it down because he tried to escape and when they caught him they beat him. Henri Young thought that this was not right , so he brought the prison to court. In the end he sued the prison and won. He was freed from prison and Alcatraz was closed forever. At the end of Alcatraz’s time of existence all the prisoners were freed.