29 Years of Mostly Foiled Plans
Alcatraz sits on a rocky island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. At just over a mile from shore, it once seemed escape-proof. Fog, freezing water, and strong currents made the island feel like a fortress.
The U.S. military first used Alcatraz in the 1850s. It served as a fort, then later, a military prison. In 1934, it became a federal penitentiary. The goal was simple: house the nation’s most dangerous men. Gangsters, escape artists, and repeat offenders filled its cold cells.
Alcatraz was tough. Guards enforced strict rules. Inmates followed rigid routines. The prison had no rehab programs, no soft treatment, and no hope of parole.
Despite the odds, some prisoners still dared to escape. Over 29 years, there were 14 known escape attempts involving 36 men. Most were caught. Some died. A few simply vanished.
Each escape tells a story of grit, risk, and desperation. The prison closed in 1963. But the legend of Alcatraz still grips us today.
April 27, 1936 – Joseph Bowers
Joseph Bowers made the first known escape attempt from Alcatraz. He was serving a long sentence for mail robbery and had a troubled history. That morning, he was burning trash near the fence. Suddenly, he began climbing the barbed wire.
Guards shouted at him to stop. He kept climbing. They fired a warning shot. Still, he didn’t come down. Then they fired again.
Bowers fell from the fence. He died instantly on the rocks below.
No one knows why he climbed. Some say he wanted to escape. Others think he may have wanted to end his life. Either way, his attempt set the tone for future escape dreams — bold, desperate, and tragic.
December 16, 1937 – Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe
Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe saw their chance during a storm. Both were serving time for robbery and kidnapping. They worked in the prison’s mat shop, near a window facing the bay.
That day, thick fog covered the island. The guards had low visibility. Cole and Roe filed through the window bars. Then they slipped out, unnoticed.
They reached the water’s edge. From there, they disappeared.
No one saw them again.
The official report said they drowned. The tides were strong and the water freezing. But rumors spread fast. Some believed they made it to shore. Others claimed they started new lives in Mexico.
No bodies were found. Their escape remains one of Alcatraz’s biggest mysteries.
May 23, 1938 – Rufus Franklin, Thomas R. Limerick, and James C. Lucas
This escape turned deadly from the start. Rufus Franklin, Thomas Limerick, and James Lucas had a plan. They worked in the prison’s woodworking shop. There, they grabbed a hammer and waited for their moment.
They attacked Officer Royal Cline. He never saw it coming. They struck him hard and fatally wounded him. Then, they climbed to the roof, hoping to reach the prison yard.
But guards spotted them fast. A gunfight broke out. Limerick was shot. Franklin was wounded. Lucas surrendered.
Limerick died later from his injuries. Franklin and Lucas survived. Both received life sentences for Cline’s murder.
This attempt shocked Alcatraz. It showed escape wasn’t just desperate — it could be deadly.
January 13, 1939 – Arthur ‘Doc’ Barker, William Martin, Rufus McCain, Henri Young, and Dale Stamphill
Five men broke out under cover of darkness. Arthur “Doc” Barker led the group. The others — Martin, McCain, Young, and Stamphill — followed a carefully planned route. They sawed through bars in the cellhouse, climbed a window, and reached the prison yard.
From there, they slipped down the cliff and crossed to the island’s edge. They hoped to steal a boat. But heavy fog slowed them down. Time ran out.
Guards spotted movement and opened fire.
Barker was hit. He died from his wounds. Stamphill was badly injured. The others surrendered soon after.
This attempt was bold — and close. But it proved the bay wasn’t the only barrier. Alcatraz watched every move.
May 21, 1941 – Joe Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Arnold Kyle, and Lloyd Barkdoll
This attempt never made it past the prison doors. Joe Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Arnold Kyle, and Lloyd Barkdoll plotted to overpower guards and seize control. Their plan? Take hostages, unlock doors, and reach the dock.
But things fell apart quickly.
They tried to overpower a guard but failed. Their timing was off. Backup arrived fast, and the group was forced to surrender.
No one escaped. No one died. But the attempt revealed rising tension inside the prison — and put all four men under strict watch from then on.
It was a failed spark, but it wouldn’t be their last.
September 15, 1941 – John Richard Bayless
John Richard Bayless didn’t have a plan. He just ran.
While working with a group of inmates outside, Bayless suddenly broke away. He sprinted toward the shoreline. Guards quickly spotted him and raised the alarm.
He didn’t get far.
Bayless surrendered before reaching the water. Later, he claimed he never truly meant to escape. Some believed it was a cry for attention. Others thought it was a test run for something bigger.
Either way, it was over in minutes. No violence, no mystery — just a moment of chaos and confusion.
April 14, 1943 – James Boarman, Harold Brest, Floyd Garland Hamilton, and Fred Hunter
Four men made a bold move. James Boarman, Harold Brest, Floyd Hamilton, and Fred Hunter worked in the prison’s mat shop. They overpowered a guard, tied him up, and climbed out through a window.
They made it to the water. Hidden under the dock, they inflated rubber gloves as makeshift flotation. Then they jumped in and began swimming.
Guards opened fire. Boarman was hit. Brest tried to hold him up, but Boarman slipped beneath the waves. His body was never recovered.
Hunter and Hamilton were caught hiding in a cave the next day. Cold and exhausted, they surrendered without a fight.
Brest was pulled from the water alive. Only Boarman disappeared — likely drowned.
This attempt came closer than most. But once again, Alcatraz held its title: escape seemed possible, survival did not.
August 7, 1943 – Huron Ted Walters
Huron “Ted” Walters tried to slip away unnoticed. While working in the laundry building, he found a way to hide. Once the shift ended, he stayed behind.
Later, he crept through a window and made it to the edge of the island.
But freedom was short-lived.
Guards spotted him before he could enter the water. He was quickly captured and returned to his cell.
There was no violence, no accomplices, and no mystery. Just one man, hiding in the shadows, hoping for a chance that never came.
July 31, 1945 – John K. Giles
John K. Giles didn’t run or fight. He dressed up and walked out.
While working in the prison laundry, Giles slowly gathered parts of an Army uniform. Piece by piece, he built a disguise. That day, a military ferry docked at Alcatraz to pick up passengers. Giles saw his chance.
Wearing the uniform, he blended in with the soldiers. He boarded the boat and sailed off the island — unnoticed.
But his freedom didn’t last long.
Once the boat reached nearby Angel Island, a headcount exposed the extra man. Authorities quickly realized he was missing from Alcatraz. Guards caught him just as he stepped off the ferry.
It was a smart plan — bold and quiet. But in the end, Alcatraz got him back.
May 2–4, 1946 – Bernard Coy, Joseph Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Clarence Carnes, Marvin Hubbard, and Miran Thompson
“The Battle of Alcatraz”
This was no ordinary escape attempt. It became a prison war.
Bernard Coy, a bank robber and trusted cellhouse orderly, planned the operation. He and five others — Joseph Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Clarence Carnes, Marvin Hubbard, and Miran Thompson — launched their escape on May 2.
Coy used his job to access a gun gallery. He overpowered a guard and grabbed weapons. Then, the group took several officers hostage, hoping to use their keys to reach the outside yard and hijack a prison launch.
But the plan collapsed.
One key they needed was missing — hidden by a quick-thinking guard. The men were trapped inside. Panic followed. Tempers rose. For two days, the prisoners held out, exchanging gunfire with guards and U.S. Marines brought in to retake the prison.
In the chaos, the inmates killed two guards: William Miller and Harold Stites. Several others were wounded.
By May 4, the standoff ended. Coy, Cretzer, and Hubbard were shot and killed during the assault. Carnes surrendered. Shockley and Thompson were captured.
Carnes, still a teenager, was spared execution. But Shockley and Thompson were tried, convicted, and executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin in 1948.
The Battle of Alcatraz shook the nation. It proved Alcatraz wasn’t just escape-proof — it could turn into a war zone.
July 23, 1956 – Floyd Wilson
Floyd Wilson didn’t run. He hid.
Assigned to work duty on the island’s dock, Wilson disappeared during his shift. Guards sounded the alarm, but he was nowhere to be found. For hours, they searched every corner of the island.
Nothing.
After nearly 12 hours, they found him — wedged between rocks along the shoreline, hidden under a small outcrop.
He hadn’t made it to the water. He never even tried. His plan relied on patience and concealment, not speed or violence. But Alcatraz’s watchful eyes eventually found him.
It was a slow, silent escape attempt — and a reminder that even stillness won’t fool the Rock.
September 29, 1958 – Aaron Burgett and Clyde Johnson
Aaron Burgett and Clyde Johnson made their move during kitchen duty. They slipped away from their work crew and headed for the shoreline. Somehow, they got past the guards and reached the water.
They dove into the bay — swimming for freedom.
Johnson didn’t make it far. A boat crew spotted him struggling and pulled him from the cold waves. He was returned to custody, soaked and exhausted.
Burgett vanished.
For over a week, he was missing. Then, on October 9, a prison boat found his body floating near the island. He had drowned. There were no signs he made it far.
The attempt showed once again: escaping the island was hard — but surviving the bay was harder.
June 11, 1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin
Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers were smart, careful, and patient. Over months, they dug through the back walls of their cells using sharpened spoons and a homemade drill. Behind the walls was a utility corridor — and their path to freedom.
They built a secret workshop above the cellblock. There, they crafted life vests and a raft from over 50 stolen raincoats, stitched and vulcanized with heat from steam pipes.
On the night of June 11, everything was ready.
They crawled through the holes in their cells, climbed the utility corridor, broke through a rooftop vent, and made it to the shore. Then, they vanished into the foggy San Francisco Bay.
By morning, guards discovered dummy heads made of soap, toilet paper, and real hair in their beds. The alarm was raised.
Despite a massive manhunt, no bodies were ever found. The raft and some personal items were discovered on nearby Angel Island. But the men? Gone.
Officially, they were presumed drowned. Unofficially, many believe they made it. Over the years, sightings, rumors, and even letters have kept the mystery alive.
The 1962 escape was bold, brilliant, and unlike any before it. If they survived, they pulled off the only true escape from Alcatraz.
December 16, 1962 – John Paul Scott and Daryl Lee Parker
“The Man Who Swam from Alcatraz”
Just six months after the famous Morris–Anglin escape, John Paul Scott and Darl Parker made their own move. They bent the bars of a kitchen window and squeezed through. Then, they plunged into the icy bay.
Parker didn’t get far. He was found clinging to rocks below the prison and quickly recaptured.
But Scott kept swimming.
Hours later, police found him — unconscious, shivering, and clinging to life — beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, over 3 miles away. He had actually made it to shore. It was the first confirmed swim from Alcatraz to the mainland.
Scott didn’t gain freedom. He was hospitalized and then sent back to the Rock. But his swim proved something important: escape by water was possible.
Today, his feat is honored in the “Escape from Alcatraz” open-water swim, held annually. Hundreds of swimmers test their grit against the same cold currents Scott survived.
His escape failed. But his legacy endures — stroke by stroke, across the bay.
The End of Alcatraz
Alcatraz closed in 1963, worn down by high costs and crumbling infrastructure. The last inmates were quietly transferred off the island. But the escape attempts left behind something that still echoes — not just in prison history, but in the American imagination. These stories weren’t just about breaking walls or swimming currents. They were about human will — defiant, desperate, and sometimes doomed. The Rock may no longer cage anyone, but its legends continue to break free.
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