Answer:
Note: Alcatraz was not escape-proof, at least not during the military period (1853-1933). The first escape, in 1878, was engineered by a pair of men who stole one of the post's boats and rowed themselves to shore. Other prisoners tried to get off using articles such as a butter vat, a bread-kneading trough, driftwood, logs, planks, a discarded ladder, and other bits of flotsam. Four prisoners secured their release by forging the commander's signature on some release papers which the Army duly processed. They were caught a few days after their "discharge". Two other men took advantage of the 1918 flu epidemic: they donned flu masks and officer uniforms for the boat ride to the Presidio. They, too, were caught several days after their release.