The Birdman of Alcatraz
What is the true story?
Alcatraz prison in California, built on a small, rocky island in the Bay of San Francisco, operated from the time of the US Civil War in the 1860s until it was closed in 1963. The island’s remote location made it the perfect site for a prison, but this location also made it expensive to maintain, and the cost of maintenance finally led to its closure. During the years it operated, Alcatraz housed many infamous prisoners including Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly, but the one prisoner whose nickname is synonymous with the prison is The Birdman of Alcatraz.
You might not associate Stroud with Alaska, but he was originally incarcerated for a murder he committed in Juneau. Robert Stroud spent 54 years in prison, and he was in solitary confinement for 42 of those years. He is one of Alaska’s most famous criminals, and his story is fascinating.
Stories often change, and with the distance of time, historical characters often appear more benevolent and likable than they were in real life. I would love to tell you a tale about a man who received too harsh a sentence for manslaughter and was then mistreated in prison, and while this version of the story has been told by some biographers, other historians do not paint Robert Stroud in such a favorable light. I’ll try to relay both sides of his story, and you can decide if Robert Stroud should…
