Alcatraz Wharf Alcatraz in the 1850s to permit the landing of men and building materials to construct a fort, completed in 1859. In 1867, the "General McPherson" was built to serve the island and other military institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area, as Alcatraz became a long-term military prison from 1868. The steamer towed officers, prisoners and food and water supplies to island between 1867 and 1886, landing at the dock twice daily before being replaced. During the time as a federal penitentiary, a prisoner once attempted to escape on a boat from the boat by dressing as an officer. The
Alcatraz coup accordingly. Consider this layout of the club suit: South wants three tricks from clubs but the opponents have been successful in concealing the location of the Q. South calls for the J from dummy, and East follows suit with the 3. South now perpetrates the Alcatraz Coup by discarding from a different suit, thus committing a revoke. Then: Presumably, the idea behind the name is that any bridge player attempting the "coup" should be locked up in a maximum security facility. According to a 1961 article by Albert Morehead: "The classic hand for the Alcatraz Coup, which was not then