Most people’s knowledge of Alcatraz, the notorious prison island of San Francisco Bay, centers around the bold escape of prisoners Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin. A dramatic breakthrough, later immortalized in the 1979 film Escape from AlcatrazClint Eastwood portrays Morris, the alleged mastermind of the plan.

But unexpectedly in recent days, the year after the escape as a prison shutdown is now a popular tourist attraction, which is news in the news, thanks to President Trump’s order to rebuild and reopen to house the country’s “the most brutal and violent criminals,” he wrote on Sunday.

"Devils are symbolic registries, especially for the Trump generation," said Dan Berger, a professor at the University of Washington Boyle University.

However, Jolene Babyak lived on the island as a teenager, when her father was a deputy guardian, and he said Alcatraz was never a very practical prison. Operation is expensive - as an island, it is difficult to recharge. Food and water must be brought from the mainland. Babyak, author of several books on Alcatraz, said each inmate costs three times as much as other federal facilities that day. "They used to say you could put a man in Waldorf Astoria - today is the Trump Tower," she said.

The origin story of the island’s name is a complex combination of languages ​​that date back to the first Europeans to explore the California coast, along with a flock of seabirds. Before the island was famous for its birds on Alcatraz, it was famous for its birds.

Where does this word come from?

“English (language) has terms Devil's Island People from Spanish and/or Portuguese,” said Jess Zafarris, author of the Etymology Book Words of hell And the upcoming Useless etymology. The word, she said, means pelican or diving bird, is believed to have been introduced from Arabic sometime after the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711.

"One of the more likely theories is that it comes from Arabic al-ghattasmeaning "diver". Zafaris said, or, it could be from Portuguese words in Portuguese or the influence of a bucket on a water wheel.

Spanish Navy officer Juan Manuel de Ayala led an expedition that first drew the San Francisco Bay in 1775 (although another explorer Gaspar de Portolá was considered the first to see it in 1769). In the charts produced by the Ayala cartographer, the island can be seen in the legend as "Isla de Alcatrazes" because it is said to be inhabited by many pelicans.

"You might say there is a cool folk etymology twist, a linguistic twist, and that's related to this discussion," Zafaris said. When British sailors in the 1600s adopted the Spanish word Demon, they thought it would be influenced by Latin albusmeaning white - therefore, the word white seabird, albatross.

In Samuel Taylor Coleridge Angry of ancient sailorsAlbatross is considered a sign of sailors' good luck. When one of them killed the bird, it brought bad luck and became an "albatross on the neck."

“It’s interesting that throughout history, the connection between English words albatross And this word Devil's Island "It seriously affected the perception of the prison," Zafaris said.

Since federal prisons are so expensive and difficult to maintain, “becoming a symbolic albatross on this system, like this way Ancient sailors' rime The albatross was a burden on his neck. And…reopening Alcatraz may once again become a burden on the albatross or federal budget,” she said.

How does the word be used over time?

Long before it became the famous prison island, it was Fort Alcatraz, which opened in 1858. The island offers a commanding view of the entrance to the bay.

"It's a great place to put military regulators on the San Francisco Bay," said William Deverell, a historian at the University of Southern California.

"The United States has a series of islands and garrisons … as part of its westward expansion," Berger explained. "So, from the very beginning, Alcatraz went west within the United States."

By the early 1860s, the fort was used as a camp for the Allied prisoners of war. Deverell said transporting prisoners of war is a long way to go, “especially when you realize there is no railroad,” he added, possibly to show “a feeling of total isolation and a feeling of civil war.”

Around 1910, Alcatraz was used to accommodate military prisoners, who Build the island's iconic three-story prison cell Still standing on the island today.

Later, when the U.S. government was building federal prisons for civilian prisoners, it often looked at whether it could repurpose military forts that already had prison infrastructure, Berger said.

"Turning Alcatraz from a military prison to a civilian prison was a sunken action," he said.

In other words, this is a cost-saving measure. Probably at that time.

When Alcatraz was transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, "the cell rod was strengthened to better prevent escape. The cell was still primitive and lacked privacy," National Park Service.

The rocky island is small, only 22.5 square feet. So when the federal prison there opened its cell door in 1934, there was not much room for prisoners. During its 29-year operation, Alcatraz Island had an average of only 260 prisoners, less than 1% of the total federal prisoner population at that time. But as the "worst" facility, it is notorious. Mob Boss Al Capone and Gangster Whitey Bulger and George "Machine Gun" Kelly spent time there as well.

Arguably more famous, though, are Morris and the Anglin Brothers, who used tools made from spoons to openings in the walls of their cells and climbed up the pipes on the evening of June 11, 1962, to the roof, and finally the edge of the water. They used rafts made of raincoats and bravely escaped the dangerous San Francisco Bay. According to the FBI, they have never seen each other again.

The infamous escape was when the author Babyak lived on the island.

"Everyone was shocked by the well-crafted plan and was missing because (Morris and the Anglos) were gone," she said.

Babyak said she doesn't think these three are.

"Those who escape bring this personality, and they tend to be obvious," she said. If they get on shore, "they may be picked up in about a week, up to two weeks."

The following year, the prison was closed at the order of General Robert Kennedy. It is considered too expensive, and the largest security facility just completed in Marion, Illinois offers a cheaper place to accommodate Alcatraz prisoners.

Why is the word important today?

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump called Alcatraz a national park and museum that attracts more than one million visitors each year - "a symbol of law and order."

But Berger of the University of Washington said it would cost tens of millions of dollars to meet the federal standards of the prison, not to mention expanding it.

“Part of the reason Alcatraz is closed is because the island prisons are very expensive,” he said.

“Infrastructure is always a problem,” Babyak said. “Water is a problem… (and) all the sewage… is dumped in the bay.”

“The island is always structurally collapsed, and it still is,” she said.

Deverell said the idea of ​​reopening Alcatraz (although unlikely) makes Trump a powerful political message.

"It's a way to show a tough way in a criminal position. It's a way to propose authority over California. I think it's a way to express a disdain for the National Park Service," he said. "In general, it's like a three-piece that distracts the news."