The prison was designed to hold up to 336 prisoners
However the average of population was only about 270
Although，there were several notorious inmates such as AICapone，most of the inmates were not well-known
Many had tried to escape from other prisoners or were considered violent
If a man did not behave at another prison，he could be sent to Alcatraz
At Alcatraz there was just one inmate in each prison cell
Prison life at Alcatraz was highly structured and boring
It was designed to teach prisoners to follow rules
Thy had four rights：food 、clothing、shelter、and medical care
Everything else was a privilege that had to be earned
Privileges included working，visits from family members and access to the prison library
There were also activities such as painting and music
Once a prisoner showed that he could follow the rules ，he could be transferred back to another prison to finish his sentence
Alcatraz was used as a prisonfor 29 years
During that time no prisoner escaped sucessfully
There were 14 escape attempts involving 36 prisoners
23 were caught alive and 6 were shot snd killed
2 men tried to escape twice
2 drowned and 5 were listed as missing and presumed drowned
The most violent escape attempt occurred on may 2nd ，1946， when 6 prisoners tried to escape
That event is called “Battle of Alcatraz”
While it was in use Alcatraz held some of the most notorious criminals in American history，such as AI Capone
AI Capone was a crime boss who built his career in Chicago
The prison was finally closed in 1963
It was closed because It was too expensive to operate
