Alcatraz is an island that was used for a prison that had in the deadliest and most powerful criminals in the world. It held in Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and other very law breaking criminals. Alcatraz was a one and a half mile distance away from the San Francisco Bay area. Even if the island is far away from the actual bay three people escaped. They made this prison because the prisoners that did very bad things could not escape again. They made the prison more than a mile away from the actual bay. Before Alcatraz became a prison the U.S. Army planned to build cannons on to the island. They called it Fort Alcatraz. When the Civil War was at hand people from the San Francisco area moved to Alcatraz. The island's population at that time was around 200 people to 300 people. This prison also became the home to many prisoners that were imprisoned in San Francisco, this happened because of the earthquake that happened. This was at first a minimum security prison, the prisoners worked and learned, some of the prisoners even worked as baby sitters for the offices children.