Four months later E.B. Swope, Warden of McNeil Island and future Warden of Alcatraz, wrote to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, also advocating Young’s transfer to The Rock. Swope wrote that Young was “fomenting as much trouble as he possibly can.”  He went on to describe Henri further:

I am sure that we are going to have more or less trouble with him. He is vicious, unscrupulous, and is a fomenter of trouble, but still has enough ingenuity to keep undercover. I would very much appreciate that if a transfer is going to be made, that it be done at an early date.

Young Arrives at Alcatraz

Henri Young was considered one of the most incorrigible inmates ever to serve time at Alcatraz. His extensive conduct reports depict a volatile and hostile nature.

Henri Young arrived on Alcatraz on June 1, 1935, as inmate AZ-244. Just one month later, Young would receive his first write-up for misconduct. Young and inmate Francis L. Keating were reprimanded for talking loudly during mealtime, which was strictly forbidden. His menacing attitude would only intensify under the strict regulations at Alcatraz. Young’s first trip to solitary confinement began on July 17, 1935, when he refused to shake out clothes during a work assignment in the laundry. He was also put on a restricted diet, which usually consisted of one full meal a day with two additional servings of bread and water.

Young’s arrogant and belligerent attitude only grew worse during his imprisonment on Alcatraz. On January 21, 1936, Young was written up for the following violations:

JOINING IN STRIKE, SUSPECTED OF SABATOGE, Having been reported by Jr. Officer Dixon as having dumped 400 lbs. of vegetables in the vegetable room of the kitchen basement, before walking out on the strike, he was immediately placed in open “D” Block, in a day or two later confessed dumping the vegetables.

- C.J. Shuttleworth, Deputy Warden.

Young would be identified as one of the leaders of the general work strike and three days later he was written up as “a noisemaker, insolent, and constantly trying to keep other prisoners from going to work.”  Henri Young had solidified his reputation as a troublemaker and his antics were infuriating to the correctional staff. He would routinely yell threats, bang his tin cup against the cell bars, and throw items (including feces) from his cell.

After spending almost four years on Alcatraz, Young joined in a failed escape attempt with fellow inmates Doc Barker, Dale Stamphill, William Martin and Rufus McCain, on January 13, 1939. Young acted as a lookout while Martin and McCain quickly cut through the bars – the same bars that had been termed tool-proof. The attempted escape resulted in significant injuries of Stamphill and the shooting death of Barker. Rumors began circulating through the prison that at the last moment, McCain had revealed that he couldn’t swim just when they made it to the water’s edge, and had begged to turn back as soon as they launched their makeshift raft in the rough bay waters.

Young and the other conspirators were placed in the upper solitary cells in A Block. An entry in Young’s conduct report states that he was moved from A Block to D Block isolation cell #587 on January 27, 1939, with continued loss of all his privileges. An official hearing on the escape resulted in Young forfeiting all 2,400 days of his statutory good time. His record does indicate a brief period in which no disciplinary action was taken. This lasted until July 9, 1939, when he again incited a disturbance, which was described as follows: “Loud yelling, pounding, cursing and attempting to throw water upon an officer. This prisoner was yelling and pounding the front of his cell with the frame of his bed.”

Henri Young’s cell in the Solitary Confinement Unit, located on the upper tier of A Block. This photograph was used during Young’s murder trial, in an attempt to illustrate the harsh confinement practices at Alcatraz.

Contemporary photos showing the interior of the upper A-Block solitary confinement cells.

Attorney James MacInnis is seen here on the upper tier of A Block, examining the closed-front solitary confinement cells.

Rufus McCain, the Alcatraz inmate murdered by Henri Young.

Rufus McCain

Rufus Roy McCain was a thirty-seven-year-old offender who seemed to share many traits in common with Henri Young. McCain was the youngest of seven children. His mother died of an unknown illness when he was only five years old and his father remarried two years later, and moved the family to Broken Bow, Oklahoma. McCain’s Alcatraz records reflect that he didn’t get along with his stepmother, whom he later claimed had mistreated him, and that as a result he was constantly in conflict with his family.  He left home at the age of eighteen and took a job in the oil fields as a driller. McCain claimed to have lived a normal life in a middle class household, working for the same company until he was thirty-two years of age. His file indicates that he drank liquor frequently, and that his only recreational activity was watching motion picture shows.

McCain’s first brush with crime occurred in 1931, when he robbed some Indian gravesites, taking valuable relics including jewelry and ceremonial artifacts.  For this crime he was sentenced to serve one year at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. McCain’s prison time was served uneventfully and upon his release, he was unable to find employment. In late 1932, he robbed a bank, hoping to secure enough money to live comfortably until he could find work. He then committed another bank robbery in Oklahoma, and was quickly captured and sentenced to serve twelve years in the Arkansas Penitentiary. Rufus McCain was considered by the prison staff to be very resourceful, and he succeeded in making his escape in April of 1935. On May 14 ^thhe stole an automobile with accomplice Samuel Marion Day, and using firearms, they held up the Idabel National Bank in Oklahoma for $2,600 in cash. The two convicts kidnapped two bank cashiers as hostages and Sam Day was killed in a fierce gun battle following the robbery.

McCain was committed to the Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth on July 11, 1935. He was subsequently transferred to Alcatraz on October 26, 1935, as a result of his violent outbursts and classification as a high escape risk. McCain had lived a normal life into his thirties, but he had since developed into a violent prisoner. In May of 1938 he attacked inmate Ralph Sullivan with a knife fashioned out of brass. The knife was seven inches long, with edges resembling “a razor’s edge filed to a sharp point,” and the handles were wrapped with electrical tape. McCain was quickly spotted with the knife by correctional officer J.J. Lapsey, and he was stopped before he could inflict any injuries. He continued to build a record of violent acts and rebellion against his guards, and therefore he was no stranger to the solitary confinement cells in A and D Blocks. His conduct report would eventually begin to show similarities to Henri Young’s. The two reports show several identical date entries for offenses and misbehavior.