Occupying Alcatraz: Native American Activists Demand Change

Occupying Alcatraz: Native American Activists Demand Change — page 1
CHAPTER ONE AN ATTEMPTED INVASION Sunday March 8 1964 was no ordinary day That afternoon A L Aylworth noticed a strange commotion brewing by the waterfront on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco California Aylworth was the caretaker of the recently shuttered prison on Alcatraz As he drove his rusty pickup truck toward the dock he spied a crowd of approximately 40 Native Americans and several members of the media in boats by the shore Not knowing their intentions Aylworth approached the group and politely asked them to vacate the island As he began to explain they were trespassing Elliot Leighton a lawyer from the American Indian Council Alcatraz which sits in San Francisco Bay was a federal prison from 1934 to 1963