Descriere: |Before the Prison |
|The name Alcatraz is derived from the Spanish "Alcatraces." In 1775,|
|the Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala was the first to sail into|
|what is now known as San Francisco Bay - his expedition mapped the |
|bay and named one of the three islands Alcatraces. Over time, the |
|name was Anglicized to Alcatraz. While the exact meaning is still |
|debated, Alcatraz is usually defined as meaning "pelican" or |
|"strange bird.