Mennonite Archives, Bethel College
American Indian inmates of the U.S. Army on the Rock.
On January 4, 1895, the San Francisco Call published an article under the heading “A Band of Apaches.” The article read, “Yesterday morning, 19 fierce-looking Apache Indians landed on Alcatraz Island.'' The article misidentified the 19 Hopi men arrested in Oraiwi the previous November. The article is loaded with racial stereotypes of murderous, “cunning Redskins” who refused to live according to “the white man's civilized ways.”
This portion of our website is a joint project of the National Park Service, Alcatraz Island Golden Gate National Recreation Area (California) and the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, Hopi Tribe (Arizona). These articles and photos document events that connect the history of Hopi and Alcatraz.
Hopi History: The Story of the Alcatraz Prisoners is written by historian Wendy Holliday, formerly of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office. This paper was first published in Tutubeni on December 15, 1995. Her articles explore the government's Indian policy and its impact on the Hopi people in the late 19th century, culminating in the imprisonment of 19 Hopi men by U.S. forces on Alcatraz Island. Tracking. In 1895.
