| 1775 : Spanish explorer Juan manuel de Ayola sails into San Francisco Bay and names its islands.
1847 : John Charles Fremont, military governor of California, purchases Alcatraz for the United States from the Mexican government.
1853 : The United States begins fortifying Alcatraz.
1854 : The first lighthouse on the Pacific Coast begins operation on Alcatraz.
1861 : The first civilian prisoners arrive on Alcatraz among them, the crew of a Confederate privateer.
1915 : Alcatraz formally becomes "Pacific Branch, U.S. Discoplinary barracks," a military prison.
1934 : After transfer from the War Department to the Department of justice, Alcatraz reopens as a federal penitentiary
1963 : U.S.Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy orders Alcatraz closed.
1969 : A 19-month occupation by the "Indians of All Tribes" begins.
1973 : The first visitors arrive on Alcatraz. |
