Meeting Alcatraz Inmate #1504
Posted on July 27, 2008 - Filed Under Alcatraz, General, Stories, Tacoma, Work, Youth
One of my early jobs was working as a pharmacy tech in Tacoma. I was in my early 20’s and didn’t care for the job much because my boss was somewhat insane, but the customers were usually fun. One of my favorite customers was a fellow named Hugh Beavers.
The first time I delivered medicine to Hugh he was living in a low income housing apartment in down town Tacoma. Hugh was a mess. He was taking too many meds, they were not regulated well and the combination of everything he was taking made things worse. Hugh was not very trusting of the young guy bringing him his medicine every week but he put up with it, giving me not much more than a grunt when I said hello.
Once we got Hugh back on track with the proper medicines he was like a new man. He was thankful for the help and we slowly developed a friendship.
My weekly visits to Hugh started lasting longer, where we would sit and talk about Native American history and of the things we had both done in our youth, even though I was still well into my own at the time.
A few months into our friendship Hugh confided in me that he had once robbed a bank and committed conspiracy related to kidnapping, and ended up in Alcatraz prison as inmate number 1504. I thought he was pulling my leg at the time but he was very serious about it and described his life in great detail. You can see Hugh listed on this page for the Alcatraz inmate list.
When Alcatraz closed, Hugh was moved to Walla Walla prison in Washington State to serve the remainder of his sentence. Eventually he ended up in Tacoma with a box of his belongings.
Hugh had a twisted and wicked sense of humor. One day he was thumbing through a magazine and showed me a picture of a device that looked like hot water bottle with a long hose. He said it would be perfect for bus rides. I was lost and asked him to explain.
“I could tape this big end to my leg, and put that hose over the end of my penis, then I could pee into it while riding on the bus, smiling at the pretty girls sitting across from me, who would have no idea I was pissing my pants.”
That was typical Hugh. Sick and twisted but I could appreciate the humor.
Stories
Hugh often told stories about his time spent as a merchant marine, living on Indian reservations in the 30’s-40’s (he was half Sioux) and how he made the mistake of getting caught and ending up in prison.
As a merchant marine, he sailed the world leaving his wife at home. Hugh described it as an odd relationship, that neither were faithful while he was away and that he was not sure why they were married in the first place. He described the life of a merchant marine as difficult, lonely (until they pulled into a port), and demanding work.
Living on the reservations was difficult for Hugh as he was not a full blooded Sioux. In his words, he was discriminated against by his “own people”. He tried to marry a Sioux woman but eventually that fell apart due to the race issue. Hugh would never be accepted by her family or the tribe in general so he left. It was heartbreaking to hear this because it felt like that would have been his one true love. Our talks about Indian life and his feeling as an “outsider” often ended with him fighting back tears. Hugh had a lot of Indian memorabilia scattered around his apartment, a reminder of his past.
Hugh described the robbery that eventually lead to his imprisonment on Alcatraz as a big mistake. He met up with the wrong crowd, and made some bad descisions.
Here is what I recall of the robbery and conspiracy charges. Hugh met a man and woman and the three of them robbed a bank. Later the three came up with an idea to kidnapp someone and get ransom money. Hugh says that he was not keen on the kidknapping idea, and that the other two had to talk him into it. Even then he was not comfortable and thought it would never happen.
The kidknapping never happened. Friends turned on each other and Hugh was the only one brought to court for the kidknapping. He felt that he’d been setup as a “patsy” for the other two and was upset about it.
Moving On
Hugh was a product of the system. He relied on DSHS for his medical services and at some point DSHS stopped paying for his medicine. Our pharmacy kept him going for a month, esentially giving him his meds for free but the owner coudn’t continue doing this.
Hugh declined quickly. He was in and out of the hospitals for a few months and I had quit working at the pharmacy. Hugh was removed from his apartment and I lost contact with him, never sure where he had been moved to. I assumed that Hugh had been moved into an actual care facility.
Every time I drive past his apartment I still remember him. I remember his stories, his charm and his wicked sense of humor.
I miss him.
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