Which of the following statements about 'Alcatraz', which was recently in news, is/are correct? 1. It was once a defence fort on Alcatraz island of America. 2. It was once a prison on Alcatraz island of America. 3. It was once occupied by a group of native American students, known as 'Indians of all tribes'. Select the answer using the code given below:

Q: What is the answer to CDS (II) 2025 GK Q115?

C. Correct — C, 1, 2 and 3. Alcatraz has had three distinct lives and the question names all of them. It was first a fortification: from the 1850s the United States Army built coastal batteries on the island to guard the entrance to San Francisco Bay, and it also served as a military prison. It then became the federal penitentiary that made the name famous, operating from 1934 to 1963 and holding Al Capone and Robert Stroud among others, closed finally because the salt air had corroded the buildings and running an island prison cost several times more than a mainland one. And in November 1969 a group of Native American activists, many of them students and calling themselves Indians of All Tribes, landed and occupied the island, staying until June 1971 and citing an 1868 treaty said to allow the reclaiming of surplus federal land. That occupation is generally credited with galvanising the Red Power movement and shifting federal policy away from termination. Since all three are true, the answer is the all-inclusive option. (Provisional — pending the official UPSC key.)

(a)1 and 2 only
(b)2 and 3 only
(c)1, 2 and 3
(d)1 only

Answer

Why

Correct — C, 1, 2 and 3. Alcatraz has had three distinct lives and the question names all of them. It was first a fortification: from the 1850s the United States Army built coastal batteries on the island to guard the entrance to San Francisco Bay, and it also served as a military prison. It then became the federal penitentiary that made the name famous, operating from 1934 to 1963 and holding Al Capone and Robert Stroud among others, closed finally because the salt air had corroded the buildings and running an island prison cost several times more than a mainland one. And in November 1969 a group of Native American activists, many of them students and calling themselves Indians of All Tribes, landed and occupied the island, staying until June 1971 and citing an 1868 treaty said to allow the reclaiming of surplus federal land. That occupation is generally credited with galvanising the Red Power movement and shifting federal policy away from termination. Since all three are true, the answer is the all-inclusive option.

Why the others are wrong

(a)1 and 2 only — Drops the occupation, which is the least-known of the three outside the United States but is historically the most consequential — it is the episode credited with changing federal Indian policy.
(b)2 and 3 only — Drops the fort, on the assumption that Alcatraz was always a prison. Its military fortification came first, from the 1850s.
(d)1 only — Keeps only the least famous fact and rejects the prison, which is the thing the island is universally known for.

Concept

Alcatraz sits in San Francisco Bay, about two kilometres offshore, and its isolation is what made it useful to each successive occupant — a defensible battery site, an escape-proof prison, and a symbolically potent piece of federal land to reclaim.

The island returned to the news in May 2025 when the US President announced an intention to reopen it as a working prison, which is why the question says 'recently in news'. Whether that proposal proceeds is a separate matter; what an exam wants is the layered history. The 1969-71 occupation is the part least likely to be known and most worth learning: the occupiers offered to buy the island for twenty-four dollars in glass beads and cloth, echoing the purchase of Manhattan, and their proclamation is a set text of the American Indian Movement era. Since 1972 the island has been part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is run by the National Park Service, which preserves both the prison buildings and the occupation graffiti.

Key facts

Alcatraz lies in San Francisco Bay, roughly two kilometres from the shore.
The US Army fortified it from the 1850s and used it as a military prison.
It operated as a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963; inmates included Al Capone.
Indians of All Tribes occupied the island from November 1969 to June 1971.
It has been part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area under the National Park Service since 1972.

Study next

The American Indian Movement and the Red Power eraUnited States federal Indian policy: removal, allotment, termination and self-determinationNational Park Service and the US protected-area systemFamous island prisons and penal colonies, including Cellular Jail at Port BlairReading 'recently in news' items — separating the news hook from the durable history

Common traps

Assuming an all-inclusive option is a trap. Here every statement is true.
Thinking Alcatraz was only ever a prison. The fort came first.
Confusing Indians of All Tribes, a Native American group, with anything relating to India.

As a three-statement item on a place that has had several distinct historical uses, where the tempting error is to reject the least familiar use.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Alcatraz island is located in which bay?
- (a)Chesapeake Bay
- (b)San Francisco Bay
- (c)Massachusetts Bay
- (d)Hudson Bay
Answer(b) San Francisco Bay — about two kilometres from the shore.
practice — not a real PYQ
The occupation of Alcatraz between 1969 and 1971 is associated with which movement?
- (a)The Civil Rights Movement
- (b)The Red Power movement of Native Americans
- (c)The anti-Vietnam war movement
- (d)The environmental movement
Answer(b) The Red Power movement — the occupiers called themselves Indians of All Tribes.