Alcatraz was only a federal prison for a few decades, but its history of human habitation dates back much further. First used to hold prisoners during the Civil War, Alcatraz Island remained under the U.S. military's control until the 1930s when it was transformed into a federal prison. From 1934 to 1963, Alcatraz was "the prison system's prison," a penitentiary reserved for the most notorious criminals and difficult inmates in America. But even the island's role as a military prison doesn't go back as far as its name, which even predates U.S. control of California. In 1775, Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala (1745-97) mapped Alcatraz Island for the first time. He named it La Isla de los Alcatraces, Spanish for "The Island of the Pelicans," after the many pelicans he found roosting on the rocky shores. The Anglicized version of that name, "Alcatraz Island," remains to this day.
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