Many people have been making use of the Golden Gate Bridge ever since it opened way back in 1937. The bridge is over the Golden Gate strait that connects the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco. The whole structure is iconic, but you must be curious about what's lurking in the waters underneath it.

Thanks to technology and underwater robots, some strange secrets got revealed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Your jaw will drop once you find out what they discovered, so make sure to read everything until the end.

An Iconic American Landmark

In the United States, there's no doubt that the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the country's most iconic landmarks. Those who spend their money to travel to San Francisco never fail to take a photo with the bridge in the background.

While the bridge is a great thing to look at, people forget that there is a massive body of water under it. The NOAA got curious and used underwater robots to explore what's under it. The bridge has so much history, and many people are still unaware of many events surrounding it.

27,000 Daily Visitors

Because you can consider the Golden Gate Bridge to be a busy tourist attraction people love, you can expect loads of people to be taking photos by the bridge daily. There are around 27,000 people who visit the bridge each day, according to Bold Italic.

It's so astonishing that the American Society of Civil Engineers even included the bridge in their Wonders of the Modern World list. The whole architecture and engineering aspect of the bridge is marvelous, so people don't pay close attention to the possibility of something out-of-this-world happening beneath it.

As Deep As 377 Feet

Unless you have the earnings to support your urge for deep-sea exploration, then you won't have close contact with whatever's underwater. The Golden Gate strait's deepest point is reportedly 377 feet, and the NOAA wanted to see what could be hiding in its depths.

It would be hazardous for humans to dive that deep because you can't get any assurance that it will be 100% safe. It's why people invest in different devices, in this case, robots, to explore the ocean floor. They were able to find reliable robots that got as deep as they needed.

A Natural Harbor Of The World

The Golden Gate Strait is a natural harbor of the world, and it's weird how Spanish conquistadors had no clue about it when they first reached California. The NOAA's exploration plan wasn't so simple since the strait was a small stretch of water.

It also has strong currents, and sources say that there are more than 100 shipwrecks in the area. You should think twice before bringing your private yacht to the strait because things can take a wrong turn fast. It's easy to find the bay today, but this hasn't always been the case.

The Bay Was Hidden Under The Fog

Before the 18th century, the Golden Gate area was quite hidden because of its thick layer of fog. Going there would be reckless since you won't be able to see anything, while the waters were terrifying as well. Many ships sunk after rocks smashed them.

The tech in ships today is entirely modernized, so they get to brave the strong currents nowadays. The NOAA knew that exploring the area would be risky, but they were willing to go for it. It takes a lot of courage to enter a place that's known to cause many deaths.

Death Surrounds The Waters

Many tried to make it through the bay, but they lost their lives due to the disastrous waters. The Pacific Ocean's strong currents are the main reason why many ships sink. Those who tried to navigate the area back in the day lacked navigational instruments and charts.

Not everyone failed to make it through the bay, though, because some lucky folks have made it through the strait, reaching the shore. We imagine getting safely past the inlet would bring someone a lot of relief, especially when they know people have died attempting the feat.

Captain John Montgomery Claimed The Land

Captain John Montgomery was a notable figure in the history of the bay. He was the one who claimed the area for America in 1846. He placed the first American flag there, and he surely deserved to get a great property on the island for himself.

People originally called the place Yerba Buena, but it got renamed San Francisco in 1847. In 1850, California officially became an American state. The California Gold Rush caught the attention of many. People began flocking to the area since San Franciso's popularity was at an all-time high.

A Growing Population

People talked non-stop about the California Gold Rush for years, but its hype eventually died down by the mid-1850s. San Francisco remained a vital port despite that, and people started to see more and more ships arrive. During the 1840s, San Francisco only had about 200 residents.

Fast forward to the 1850s; their population skyrocketed to at least 36,000. People started to hate how there wasn't a safer way to get past the Golden Strait, and it didn't take too long before people began to think of a solution for such an important issue.

San Francisco Was A Hidden City

Many of us don't realize how much the Golden Gate Bridge makes everyone's lives easier. People can get from point A to point B quite fast as long as they have a car. Back in the day, people used their boats to travel. Not many people knew about the city because it was hidden.

Being hidden from the world became a problem because it led to the city growing slower than usual. It's why they got forced to think of a way to make getting to the city easier. Little did they know that boats won't remain an in-demand mode of transportation forever.

Brainstorming For A Solution

People eventually started brainstorming for ways they could make traveling across the bay easier. They wanted to do away with the ferry-type transport since it took a lot of time and was getting too dangerous. At first, they didn't believe that it was possible to build a bridge.

The foggy weather and strong currents weren't ideal for constructing a massive bridge. It would take a lot of time and effort to get it done, but at that point, the vital thing was there were people that believed they could do it.

The 1915 World's Fair That Got Things Moving

Of course, people didn't immediately believe that they could put up a bridge because it would require many hardworking people to create, and they would need to risk their lives. The idea of a bridge was the talk of the town for years, but things finally started moving along after the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition world's fair.

The fair marked the start of people beginning to put more effort into kickstarting the bridge's construction. Such a thing would be a massive investment, but its reward would last for decades, if not forever.

Joseph Strauss Submits A Proposal For The Bridge's Design

Joseph B. Strauss was the talented engineer in the front line when it came to submitting design proposals for the bridge. He presented the idea of a hybrid suspension-cantilever bridge that would connect Marin County and San Francisco.

Strauss's proposal didn't get approved right away, but he didn't mind making several revisions. They eventually agreed on a design and started construction. You can imagine how big of a fee he received for being the designer of the whole bridge. Photographed above is a statue of him tourists can take photos with.

It Finally Opened In 1937

After a long and challenging construction process, the Golden Gate Bridge finally opened on May 27, 1937. There was an economic crisis happening in America at that time, so people were impressed by the fact that they could put up a bridge in such a challenging domain.

The Golden Gate Bridge was somehow showing people a sign of hope in the Bay Area. Today, the bridge remains an iconic attraction in the vicinity, attracting as many as ten million visitors annually. More than 100,000 cars make use of the bridge each day.

A Ton Of Foot Traffic

You won't only see vehicles on the bridge, for people who are into fitness use the bridge for their morning jog or walk. The bridge gets busy, and no one has time to stare at every single inch of the bridge. Many of you most probably never thought that there could be something lurking under it.

The NOAA's goal is to discover what could be deep in the waters and if people are ready to find out what it is. Our imagination can come up with many frightening assumptions, but it's still better if experts confirm it with facts and proof.

The NOAA Is The Right Organization For The Job

People should have trust in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration because they have an impressive portfolio. They're a notable scientific agency that tackles things involving waterways across the globe. They eventually wondered if there would be a potentially groundbreaking discovery in the Golden Gate strait.

The organization can explore the strait the right way because they have many brilliant researchers and marine archeologists on their team. They have all kept an open mind with what they can potentially discover, but we're sure these folks didn't expect to find what they found.

All Eyes On The Waterways

The NOAA has all the right equipment to accurately monitor all the activity happening in the world's waterways. The Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is one place they observe, and they can easily do it even if it's a whopping 330,000 square miles.

Scanning the ocean floor isn't something new to these professionals, and it's a fascinating job since there are still many things about the ocean people don't know about. They're always open to new challenges, and it's why they started to get curious about the Golden Gate strait.

They Want Answers

The Golden Gate Bridge is undoubtedly busy all day, but people also flock to the waters. There are kayakers, swimmers, or random tourists trying to take Instagrammable shots with their phones. With how peaceful everything seems to be, not many people are curious if there's still more mystery surrounding the bridge.

The Golden Gate strait caught the NOAA's attention because of how many ships sunk in the area over the years. There's something mind-boggling about the deadly tides, currents, and swells that can happen in the area. The NOAA wanted to get to the bottom of things.

Sonar Scanners Discovered 8 Hotspots

In September 2014, researchers from the NOAA started their scanning process of the Golden Gate Bridge. They used a sonar scanner to check out the ocean floor there, and they discovered eight potential areas worth taking an extra look at.

They had their assumptions of what these locations could be, and they were right about assuming that four of them were shipwrecks. Having people dive down there might be quite dangerous, so, thanks to technology and innovation, they were able to come up with robots who can do the job.

Deploying The Robots

If NASA has rovers they use to examine other planets, the NOAA also had remotely operated vehicles (ROV) to explore the ocean floor. They sent an ROV to all the hotspots they discovered in hopes of coming across something that could blow people's minds.

Not many people know about the shipwrecks in the Golden Gate strait, so researching about how they even got there could provide answers to decades-long mysteries. The robots they deployed will help identify the names of the vessels that sunk and what caused the problems they faced.

Discovering The Noonday

It didn't take too long before the NOAA started finding more information about the shipwrecks they examined with their robots. Their first discovery was a ship named Noonday. It was a clipper ship that got made for Henry Hastings, a Boston merchant.

Sources say the ship sunk on January 1, 1863, during its fourth voyage to San Francisco. The boat hit a rock and ended up sinking, but the harbor was not that far away, so all the men on the ship survived. Their lives got spared, but all the cargo that was inside the boat couldn't get recovered.

Men On The Noonday Saw Hope

The men inside the Noonday must've felt scared once they confirmed that their ship was sinking. Some might've thought that they would die that day, but any anxious thought went away after they saw that the San Francisco harbor wasn't too far.

Noonday reportedly collided with a rock about eight miles out. Captain Hastings, along with his crew, brought a few personal things with them, but they failed to find a way to save all the valuable cargo that was on the ship. In a disaster like that, you can't prioritize material things over your life.

The Noonday Rock

Sources say the Noonday sunk as deep as 40 fathoms. The cargo on board was worth a lot of money, and numerous people tried to dive down there to recover what they can. Unfortunately, anyone who attempted to get things from the shipwreck failed.

If you head to the site where the ship sunk, you will still see the rock the boat hit. People now refer to it as the Noonday Rock. It's quite crazy to think that a boulder like that could've taken the lives of several people. Things like this might cause people to be afraid of going on boats.

Time For More Research

Even if they know where the Noonday Rock is, the people from the NOAA knew that there was still a lot of work to do. They continued to do more sonar scans of the area and found a structure that looks like a shipwreck. It just so happens that it was close to the Noonday Rock.

They deployed another ROV to search the area, and many were optimistic that they would find the significant shipwreck right away. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and it looks like they learned that great discoveries might take more time.

They Couldn't See The Ship

A structure appeared in the sonar scans, but it looks like the ROV couldn't see anything. They confirmed that they were in the Noonday ship's final resting place, but it might've sunken too deep already. NOAA's James Delgado says that no part of the vessel is above the seabed.

Things got quite challenging for them, but they had no plans of giving up. They had many more areas to visit, and they had high hopes that they will make even better discoveries. With the numerous shipwrecks in the area, they have many options to choose from.

Finding The SS Selja

The NOAA moved onto other locations, and it looks like they picked up another long-lost ship on their radar. They discovered the workhorse cargo steamer called the SS Selja. Sources say it sunk way back in 1910. This ship facilitated the trade of lumber and flour between the Pacific Northwest and Asia.

The SS Selja sunk after leaving Portland, Oregon, on January 22, 1910. Seeing the sunken ship on their radar was a big deal, making their researchers go on overdrive. Everybody wanted to know all the details surrounding the SS Selja and its devastating demise.

The Selja Collided With Another Ship

The SS Selja didn't collide with a rock-like the Noonday, for its collision was way worse. The ship hit the SS Beaver, which was another cargo ship. The boat captain didn't hear the ship's whistle right away, so he couldn't have done anything to stop the accident.

The ship's sinking happened when they were about 700 miles out, and it plummeted down to 180 feet. William Kidston, the captain of the SS Beaver, later said that the SS Selja only took ten minutes to sink. It sunk in a total of 30 fathoms of water.

Visiting The SS Selja Shipwreck Was Possible

The captains of both ships pointed fingers at each other, but everyone later agreed that both were at fault for the collision. People eventually forgot about the SS Selja's sinking, but it looks like NOAA researchers brought some interest and attention back to the ship.

They found a shipwreck on their radar that wasn't buried under the seabed, and it looks like they all felt ecstatic about potentially exploring the ghost ship. The wreckage that popped up on the scanner was on the west side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

NOAA Wasn't Satisfied With Only Two Ships

Some might think that discovering two shipwrecks was already enough for the NOAA to call it a day. They wanted to exhaust all their options, and they made it a point to explore the four ghost ships that appeared on their sonar scanners.

The remaining two ships were quite different from each other. One was extremely dirty and loaded with fishing nets, so its name was a mystery. The last one was visible, but they concluded that it was only a tugboat that sunk to the ocean floor after a random incident.

The Port Of Shipwrecks

The NOAA felt devastated that they couldn't get the exact names of the final two shipwrecks they were researching about. A more significant issue that intrigued all of them was how many shipwrecks were under the Golden Gate Bridge.

The most straightforward answer would be that the Golden Gate strait's waters were quite busy before the bridge got put up. The port was popular, and dozens of boats would flock there each day. Today, you can attempt to bring your private yacht there, but do it at your own risk.

There's An Estimated 300 Shipwrecks In the Area

It would be a challenge to count all the shipwrecks under the waters of the Golden Gate strait, but Live Science estimates it to be around 300. The different wrecks from different eras got scattered across the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

The oldest shipwreck they got information about was a ship called San Agustin. It's a ship from Spain that sunk sometime in the 16th century. One of the newer additions to the shipwreck collection in the area was the tanker Puerto Rican that sunk in 1984.

Snooping Around Months Before Their 2014 Survey

The NOAA only discovered four shipwrecks through their research, but you can imagine how much more history we can learn about if people find all the other shipwrecks under the Golden Gate Bridge. Before the NOAA started their 2014 survey, they were already conducting some research in the area.

Something about the place sparked their interest, and snooping around led to them making an unexpected discovery. They thought this initial discovery was already lost forever, but it turns out the universe wanted them to learn all about its origin and demise.

Finding The SS City of Chester

The ship that the people from the NOAA discovered was the SS City of Chester. It sunk when it was on its way to Eureka, California, from San Francisco. As you can see in the photo above, the steamship had a classic design that ship designers don't use much anymore.

The SS City of Chester didn't sink out of the blue, for what caused it was the collision it had with the RMS Oceanic. The crash caused it to form a hole on the ship's port side, and it eventually sunk in just several minutes. Sources say sixteen people went down with the ship.

The Steamship Was Lost For Over 100 Years

You'd think that because the SS City of Chester sunk near the Golden Gate Bridge, it would've gotten discovered right away. It wasn't the case, for it took about 120 years before people found it. The NOAA discovered it in 2014, and many were impressed with them finding a long-lost steamship.

Locating where it sunk is already a significant achievement, but exploring it was even more impressive. They did it through robots, and the whole team at the NOAA got shocked that the ship was still in good shape despite being underwater for a long time.

Locating A Popular California Shipwreck

The SS City of Chester wasn't the only significant discovery the NOAA had in 2014, for they also located an extremely popular shipwreck in California. They discovered the SS City of Rio de Janeiro, which reportedly sunk back in 1901. The ship sunk during a foggy morning on the strait.

Colliding with some rocks is what caused their ship to sink. The vessel was massive, but it only took minutes for it to sink fully. You can see above that there were loads of people aboard the ship, and reports say over 100 people died during the accident.

Golden Gate's Own Titanic

The SS City of Rio de Janeiro was a sad catastrophe, and some people refer to it as the Titanic of the Golden Gate. It's unclear if there was a great love story that happened aboard the ship, but we know that numerous people tried their best to save themselves as the ship sunk.

There were 210 people on the ship when it sunk, and only 82 passengers survived. William Ward was the boat captain, and he was among those who died in the sinking. The watch chain recovered his remains in 1902 when it washed up on a beach by Fort Point.

NOAA Developed An SS City of Rio Janeiro 3D Model Of The

Even if the NOAA knows where the shipwreck of the SS City of Rio Janeiro is, bringing it back up to the surface would be close to impossible. It's buried deep under 287 feet of water, and someone with an immense fortune would have to create a massive machine to get them back on the ground.

The NOAA didn't need to pull the ship back up since their gadgets allowed them to make a full scan of the shipwrecks. They then produced a 3D model of the vessel, which you can see in the photo above. They tried their best to make the color and texture accurate.

More Discoveries Came After

Everything that happened when they spotted the SS City of Rio Janeiro seemed like an excellent point for science, but the NOAA knew that they could discover more. It took a lot of hard work and patience to get where they are, so there's no point for them to stop.

Their time was a massive investment for the whole project, and it looks like they still wanted to push themselves more. In about a year, the NOAA found more details on another potential shipwreck they saw. It was the tugboat they discovered in 2014.

Discovering The Tugboat's Name

When those from the NOAA found a tugboat on their scanner in 2014, they thought it was nothing important, and they didn't instantly get any info about it. In 2015, the researchers concluded that the tugboat had a lot of history and wasn't just a random private ship.

They searched a lot of documents and examined the tugboat's physical features. They discovered that the tugboat was the USS Conestoga that disappeared in the early 1920s. The conclusion opened a pandora's box of stories from the past that not many people knew about.

No One Knew What Happened To The USS Conestoga

People made use of the USS Conestoga during the height of World War I. The boat reportedly carried supplies and weapons and acted as a means to transport them from one place to another. When it sunk, it was making its way to Samoa.

The ship mysteriously disappeared after they left Mare Island. The lack of advanced surveillance systems made it hard for people to track them, and it's why no one knew what happened to the tugboat since the '20s. The NOAA now sheds some light on whoever had ancestors whose lives ended because of the tragic incident.

It's More Than Just Shipwrecks Now

Discovering the USS Conestoga gave the NOAA a lot of hope and confidence that they will still have way more possible shipwrecks to locate. Each discovery for them proves that the Golden Gate strait is a great place to explore, but they would have to continue putting in the time and effort.

Shipwrecks weren't the only thing that they got to examine in the area because there was a particular facility that caught their attention. It was a notorious prison that was right at the center of San Francisco Bay...

Learning About The Alcatraz Penitentiary

Alcatraz Island is by San Francisco Bay, and it's a place that once had a military facility. The Alcatraz Penitentiary was there, and it looks the NOAA thought of exploring what was under it. They got to do it by seeking help from Binghamton University archaeologists.

Juan Manuel de Ayala was the Spanish man who reportedly claimed the island in 1775, and he initially named it La Isla de Los Alcatraces or Island of the Pelicans. The 22-acre island has two high points, and the Alcatraz Penitentiary is somewhere between them.

Passed On To Julian Workman

Alcatraz Island didn't always have a prison, and it used to belong to a man named Julian Workman. Pio Pico, then-governor of Alta California, gave him the island and told him to put up a lighthouse. Such a structure would make the island distinguishable even from a far distance.

Workman could've quickly done it, but sadly, he didn't pull through. A military governor named John C. Fremont ended up buying the island from him for $5K. That amount of money seems like not so much today, but people considered that a jaw-dropping sum at the time.

The Military Gets The Island

The United States acquired California in the late 1840s, and then in 1850, President Millard Fillmore sent out an order saying that Alcatraz Island will get handed to the military. It made the island a military base, and they could use it for defense purposes.

John C. Fremont expected to receive a paycheck in exchange for the acquisition of his island. He thought it would be a simple transaction, but it looks like things got complicated. You can imagine how much stress he went through at that time. Losing any kind of estate would be so heartbreaking.

Losing Against The United States

When it came to the acquisition's legal aspect, it looks like John C. Fremont had to put up a fight against the United States. He tried his best, but it seems like they found a loophole they could use against him. They claimed that he never became the island owner legally since he purchased it under the government's name.

Fremont took them to court and didn't want to give up his island so easily. He and some ranchers fought hard throughout the 1890s, but it looks like they eventually ruled that he didn't have any legal ownership of the island.

Three Years In The Making

When the United States finally ended their legal battle with Fremont and could move on with Alcatraz Island's plans, they knew it was time to build different structures and properties on the island. The whole building process reportedly took about three years.

More and more people were heading to San Francisco, so they needed the island to be fully functional for any defense necessary. The photo above shows you a rough sketch of how the military base looked on the island when it was new. You'll notice that the architecture was quite old-school and basic.

Fortified Islands For Defense

The U.S. prioritized the construction of defense forces on Alcatraz Island because they feared that the numerous people coming daily into San Francisco Bay could pose a threat. They never knew when their enemies could be hiding in one of the civilian ships.

Aside from Alcatraz Island, they also wanted to make sure a nearby island called Fort Point got fortified as well. People were optimistic about Alcatraz Island, and no one ever expected that it would turn into a prison in the future. John C. Fremont was indeed not supportive about whatever direction his island was heading to.

The Perfect Island

Alcatraz must be worth millions because it's in such a perfect location. Engineers who examined the entire island were impressed with everything about it. The Pacific Coast Board of Engineers publicly acknowledges how perfect it was for a new military base.

They liked how the island was in the center of the inner harbor. It would be the first to greet any brave enemies trying to approach San Francisco and Angel Island's inner area. Undoubtedly, the United States must've loved how they acquired the ideal island without spending any money.

Using Natural Resources

Zealous B. Tower was the civil engineer and soldier who was responsible for the construction of Fort Alcatraz. He needed to get things done as fast as possible, so he used anything nature provided. He and his crew used rocks to build the walls that would protect the island.

When the walls were all up, they could position their weaponry behind them. The weapons at Fort Alcatraz were at the north, south, and west sides of the walls. When it came to armed cannons, he and his crew set up a total of 111.

Armed & Ready

They called the cannons they had on the island Columbiads. While you might think they were enough, Fort Alcatraz also had caponiers. These were stone towers that added an extra level of defense. Enemies who thought of doing anything will have to get through a lot before they can cause severe damage.

The citadel finished construction after about a year. Next to the lighthouse on the island, they set up barracks. The lighthouse on Fort Alcatraz is the first-ever navigational light found on United States' Pacific Coast. Many were impressed with the defense Fort Alcatraz had back then.

The Importance Of The Citadel

A lot of folks knew that the citadel's primary purpose was to defend Fort Alcatraz, but it also played a massive role in protecting the iconic lighthouse. The number of soldiers it could accommodate was 100 at the least, but they could fit up to 200 men if they wanted to.

The barracks had windows where soldiers can fire weapons when needed. If enemies attempted to take over Fort Alcatraz, soldiers could survive up to four months in the citadel. It was deemed as one of the safest places for soldiers until any backup arrives.

Lack Of Labor Workers

Everyone wanted to speeds things up when it came to Alcatraz Island's fortification, but things only got completed in 1859. Many factors contributed to why they couldn't get things done fast, but the most significant one was the lack of labor workers with valuable skills.

Yes, many people flocked to San Francisco at that time, but not everyone wanted to work. People thought they could quickly get their hands on some gold and become wealthy. It became a challenge to find people who were willing to spend a significant portion of their day building a fort.

Not Much Defense Needed

People got to make use of Fort Alcatraz when the Civil War in the United States was happening. Sources say that there were about 350 men stationed on the island. Unfortunately, they were not so productive then since no one made attempts to take over the fort.

The Confederate army had a plot planned, but they never pushed through with it. There were only three men who faced arrest in 1863 in an attempt to attack the fort, but they had an unserved sentence of about ten years. It's because the late Abraham Lincoln gave all of them a pardon after the war.

Island's First Prisoners

When it comes to modern times, people know Alcatraz Island for being a prison. It's as if everyone forgot the military history it has. In 1859, the island saw its first few prisoners. They were soldiers who got incarcerated. Prisoners on the island lived on the most uncomfortable cells, for there wasn't a single piece of comfy furniture.

The island got used as the prison for Confederate soldiers at the time of the Civil War. People who built the structures on the island didn't have a jail in mind during the construction process, but it looks like there was always something about the island that made it perfect for imprisonment.

Escape-Proof Prison

By 1934, civilian prisoners were starting to get held at the Alcatraz Penitentiary. The island was quite far from the shore, so all the prisoners would have a hard time pulling off an escape. Simply swimming could lead to their death from its strong currents and cold temperature.

These scary factors didn't stop people from making attempts, though, and reports say there were a total of 14 known attempts to escape the island. As predicted, none of them got to make it back to the mainland safely. The island is something you'd see in a Hollywood film.

A Growing Prison Population

There were not many prisoners on the island initially, but the population grew as time passed. The jailhouse there got constructed in 1867, and by 1898, there were around 450 people on the island. In the following decades, even bigger concrete cells got built. These cells make up the largest property on the island, which is still intact.

Things changed in 1933 when they decommissioned the fort's military aspect. The Bureau of Prisons took over the whole operation. It's quite crazy to think how many changes the island has gone through since getting handed over to the United States.

James A. Johnston: The Warden Who Had No Time For Jokes

On August 11, 1934, the Alcatraz Penitentiary officially had its first set of inmates. You can consider them as special because the authorities hand-picked all of them. They had many issues in the former prison they were in, so they had to get transferred.

James A. Johnston was the warden during that time, and he had no time for games. He was as strict as it gets, and many considered him the perfect candidate for the position. His job wasn't easy, so we bet he got an impressive salary. Johnston wasn't a lone wolf, for he had about 155 guards that were part of his crew.

Imprisoning Public Enemy #1

When the Alcatraz Penitentiary was fully functional, some of the most infamous criminals got sent there. These people did a lot of evil in their life, and they needed to be kept away from the world so that they couldn't ever spread mayhem again.

One of the most popular men imprisoned on the island was Alvin "Creepy" Karpis. He was notorious during the '30s because he was part of the Barker–Karpis gang. Karpis was among the four criminals the FBI referred to as Public Enemy #1, but he was the only one they captured alive.

Not All Escapees Got To Live To Tell Their Story

The criminals on the island thought they had a master's degree in committing crimes, so they felt that they could pull off an escape. During the 14 occasions that 36 criminals tried to escape, not everyone got out of it alive.

About six of them got killed during the escape. Two prisoners drowned to death, while there were five others who they pronounced as missing and most probably drowned. There were 23 luckier ones who the guards caught alive. If ever there was someone who successfully made it out alive, he must've done a great job at hiding for years.

The Most Notable Escape

It's easy to assume that all the prisoners' attempts to escape were the same, but one stood out. The 13th escape was the one worth remembering because of how elaborate it was. There were three prisoners involved: Frank Morris, Clarence Anglin, and John Anglin.

The three men found a way to make it to the ocean. It's unclear if these men died from the water's freezing temperature because an alleged letter by John Anglin got sent to the police in 2013. In 1979, Clint Eastwood acted out the escape in the film called Escape from Alcatraz.

A Modern-Day Tourist Attraction

Alcatraz Penitentiary isn't as terrifying as it used to, and it's even a tourist attraction today. You'd see many people take a boat to the island for some cool photos. Timothy de Smet and his team from Binghamton University had no tourism aspirations, for what caught their attention is the potential discoveries surrounding the island.

They reportedly used lasers to examine whatever was beneath the surface. This method will allow them to check out anything underground without damaging the island and disturbing the tourists. Causing any destruction on the island would make them end up with a hefty fine.

Safe From Deadly Bombs

The team observed many details about the island's structure thanks to the laser technology they had. They recognized structures on the island that remained intact all these years and found that the people who did the construction on the island made sure everything was bomb-proof.

There was a tunnel under the island with trustworthy ventilation shafts, and they were still in excellent condition as of 2019. Many have forgotten about this part of the island, up until some talented researchers discovered it again. It makes you wonder if the military would want to use the island in the future.

They Didn't Know What To Expect

Timothy de Smet and his team knew that their lasers would help explore the island. However, they had no clue what kinds of things or structures they will uncover right off the bat. Such a venture is both scary and exciting because of the countless possibilities there are.

They knew that the island played a significant role in the United States' history, so they made sure to be as careful as they can be. Before even starting, they all ensured that everything they would do would be non-destructive and non-invasive.

Archaeology Has A Bright Future

After all these exciting discoveries, who knows what humanity can find in other historic parts of the world! The best part about it is that the evolving technology allows people to explore these places without causing any damage.

Timothy de Smet will surely keep on doing non-invasive explorations in the years to come. He believes that the world of archaeology has a bright future ahead of it. There are many unanswered archaeological research questions people have, and it looks like it will soon be possible to find the answers. The real enigma is: Are there things better left undiscovered?