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2014, Everett and his teammapped fortress and magazine buildings, as well as a subterranean tunnel system used for moving ammunition. They solved the mystery of what had happened to the caponier structure that jutted out into the bay. Because the historic island now belongs to the U.S. National Park Service, which turned it into a tourist attraction, the researchers want to study the subterranean remains using targeted excavations. The hidden fort only adds to the mystique of Alcatraz, perhaps the most famous prison ever to exist in the U.S. In 1933, the U.S. Department of Justice decided that it needed a spot to place those prisoners who the other U.S. penitentiaries deemed too dangerous or too difficult. Essentially, the worst of the worst criminals in the country would all get shipped to a tiny, 225-acre island of rock surrounded by frigid waters with strong currents that could easily sweep a human into the Pacific Ocean.

Map of Alcatraz Island.

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Introduction