A History of Alcatraz Island: 1853-2008 - Gregory L. Wellman - Google Books

http://books.google.de/books?id=1duAUPaHSgcC&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7

As one of America's most notorious prisons, Alcatraz has been a significant part of California's history for over 155 years. The small, lonely rock, known in sea charts by its Spanish name "Isla de los Alcatraces," or "Island of Pelicans," lay essentially…