Alcatraz Island later invalidated the sale and paid Frémont nothing. Frémont and his heirs sued for compensation during protracted but unsuccessful legal battles that extended into the 1890s. Following the acquisition of California by the United States as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) which ended the Mexican–American War, and the onset of the California Gold Rush the following year, the U.S. Army began studying the suitability of Alcatraz Island for the positioning of coastal batteries to protect the approaches to San Francisco Bay. In 1853, under the direction of Zealous B. Tower, the United States Army Corps of
Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens is a juvenile fiction novel by Brandon Sanderson, published in December 2010 by Scholastic Press. It is the fourth book in the "Alcatraz Versus" series featuring the protagonist Alcatraz Smedry. Alcatraz and his companions head off to Mokia, one of the Free Kingdoms, to try and save it from a Librarian take over. Alcatraz succeeds, but at great cost. Mokia is largely destroyed. Its King and Queen, over half of the fighting men, and even Alcatraz's good friend and personal body guard Bastille are all left comatose with no known