Alcatraz Island the hands of Confederate sympathizers. Alcatraz, built as a "heavily fortified military site on the West Coast", formed a "triangle of defense" along with Fort Point and Lime Point, and ensured security to the bay. The island was also the site of the first operational lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States. Alcatraz never fired its guns offensively, though during the war it was used to imprison Confederate sympathizers and privateers on the west coast. Because of its isolation from the outside by the cold, strong, hazardous currents of the waters of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz was used
Legends of Alcatraz cells and locked cell doors shutting, to phantom figures in corridors, cold spots and even the sounds of musical instruments and sewing machines. Officials for Alcatraz have dismissed the reports of ghosts at Alcatraz as nonsense and deny their existence. Jerry Lewis Champion stated that it is "easy to see that Alcatraz Island contains all the legend and aura for the tales of ghosts and lost souls." The "Los Angeles Times" describes Alcatraz as the "most notorious federal penitentiary this country has ever known. Its history runs far and deep, as do the stories, the rumors, and the legends", and