EXCLUSIVE – ALCATRAZ ISLAND, California — Bill Baker was only 23 when he was handcuffed, shackled, and thrown on the back of a boat headed for Alcatraz, the infamous federal penitentiary reserved for the worst of the worst in the country.
Back then, he was known only as Inmate No. 1259. Today, at 91 years old, he’s ready to discuss his time on “The Rock.”
Baker’s story began on a cold and foggy morning in January 1957. He wore a standard-issue shirt and pants three sizes too big for his frame.
“I was scared s***less,” he told the Washington Examiner.
Born in Kentucky during the Great Depression, Baker spent most of his life in and out of federal prison for cashing bad checks. He got criminally good at escaping, so he was sent to the one place no one had escaped from to finish the final three years of his sentence.
More than half a century later, Baker is back at Alcatraz. This time, voluntarily.
“It doesn’t bother me,” he said. “The wardens are all dead. I survived, so this is my turf now.”
Baker is believed to be one of the last living inmates of Alcatraz. He has harrowing tales about the time he tried to escape (he got caught), the spaghetti he still dreams about (“they knew how to feed us!”), and the “little home brew” the inmates got drunk on occasionally.
He and the other prisoners walked the yard, talking about their families and planning future bank robberies. If there was a lesson to be learned at Alcatraz about the consequences of breaking the law, it was lost on Baker. After he left Alcatraz, he spent the next five decades “dabbling in the counterfeit world.”
Baker’s a relic now, put out to pasture and no longer a threat, he joked to the Washington Examiner.
“I am a reminder of a time that once was,” he said.
For nearly three decades, the prison off the coast of San Francisco housed some of the most notorious criminals in U.S. history, including gangster Al Capone, George “Machine Gun Kelly” Barnes, and Robert Stroud, who was better known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz.”
The prison opened on July 1, 1934, and closed 28 years later on March 21, 1963. Since then, the National Park Service has turned it into a museum. A trip to Alcatraz is among the top three “must-see” things for visitors to San Francisco. It’s a huge driver of tourism and has kitschy jail-themed souvenirs that include everything from life-size replicas of jail cell keys to shot glasses with a prisoner at the bottom trying to get out.
Boatloads of tourists ferry in every half hour, taking self-guided audio tours of the tiny prison cells and learning about the gangsters, murderers, and thieves who, like Baker, once called it home.
Everything about the trip to the former federal penitentiary feels surreal, from the long lines to get on board the Alcatraz Cruises ferry from Pier 33 to the sign reading “Sip a Mimosa” for $11 on board. The snack stand, which sells $6 PB&J sandwiches, has vegan options, such as tahini/chickpea hummus on a whole wheat wrap for $11.25. There’s also a charging station for phones, bathrooms, and spectacular views of the island, bay, and San Francisco skyline. On board the 15-minute ride is usually a mix of international tourists, TikTokkers, armchair historians, and schoolchildren.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT ALCATRAZ, THE CALIFORNIA PRISON TRUMP WANTS TO REOPEN
“I thought there would be more people here,” Juan Flores told the Washington Examiner. Flores made the 2 1/2-hour drive from Sacramento for the excursion. He brought his son Carlos, a sixth grader.
Flores said they purchased tickets online after hearing President Donald Trump wanted to reopen the dilapidated prison.
“I don’t know if he was serious or not, but I took off work to come today,” he said. “We thought this might be our last chance.”
Trump recently issued the stunning directive to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to “REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!”
Even though the Bureau of Prisons has been struggling with short staffing, chronic violence, and crumbling infrastructure at its current facilities, Trump said he’s counting on the agency to fulfill his vision of rebooting the prison that has become the subject of many books and movies.
Most people who heard the news, such as Michael Seagman, a tourist from Canada, thought Trump was joking. But the president, as he often does, stood firm, disregarding the prison’s outdated technology and the very reason then-U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy chose to close it in the first place: It was too costly to maintain and operate.
In a post to Truth Social, Trump wrote, “For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
“That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” he wrote.
The president’s push to reopen Alcatraz didn’t seem rooted in reality, Baker said. “No one’s opening this place,” he said. “Look at it.”
The cell blocks are now three tiers of faded yellow and green cells with peeling paint and rust on the bars. The toilets are mostly cracked and hollowed out, though some have bricks clogging them. Most cells have chunks of concrete missing, the plumbing doesn’t work, the beds are bent metal frames, and wires come out of fireplaces for the officers. None of the equipment works, and most structures are missing simple things such as walls or a roof.
Then, there’s the bird excrement, something visitors smell before they see. Droppings coat buildings, walkways, and the roads. They’re everywhere. The island’s rocky habitat and isolation from mainland predators make it bird heaven and poop hell for those stuck on it.
Saying Alcatraz needs an upgrade is a gross understatement.
It would need the renovation of a century, something that would not only take millions of dollars but also a lot of time.
California lawmakers, from both parties, have laughed off Trump’s proposal.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), whose district includes Alcatraz, called the president’s plan “not a serious one.”
“Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President’s proposal is not a serious one,” she wrote on X.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said he was taking it “just as seriously as I’m taking the suggestion that he’s gonna make Canada the 51st state,” while Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) simply said, “Whatever. What-ever. He says a lot of things.”