Swift Runner

Gerry Meek was a librarian in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

During the winter of 1878-79, a Cree Indian by the name of Swift Runner savagely murdered his wife, his five children, and three other relatives and then ate them. Subsequently arrested for his horrific crimes, he was brought to trial on August 20, 1879, found guilty, and sentenced to death by hanging. This sentence was carried out on December 20 at Fort Saskatchewan in what is now the province of Alberta.

Painstakingly researched, this study describes the tragic combination of events and circumstances that transformed this quiet, proud family man into Canada’s most notorious mass murderer. In the process, the reader is presented with a powerful, gripping portrait of the impact of white settlement on an Indian people and their way of life in general and its tragic consequences for one individual in particular.

This excellent book makes full use of the available fragmentary evidence and casts valuable new light on a nearly forgotten episode of Canadian history. The book contains some valuable appendices and includes a number of helpful references.

The author is an instructor at the University of Lethbridge. This is his second book on western Canadian history.