Passed On To Julian Workman
Alcatraz Island didn’t always have a prison, and it used to belong to a man named Julian Workman. Pio Pico, then-governor of Alta California, gave him the island and told him to put up a lighthouse. Such a structure would make the island distinguishable even from a far distance.
Workman could’ve quickly done it, but sadly, he didn’t pull through. A military governor named John C. Fremont ended up buying the island from him for $5K. That amount of money seems like not so much today, but people considered that a jaw-dropping sum at the time.