Description
Pp. [4] 181, b/w photographs. ‘This is a true story of a fascinating episode in the frontier history of Canada. Simon Peter Gunanoot, a prosperous trapper, rancher and merchant of Hazelton, British Columbia was accused of the cold-blooded murder of two men in 1906. He fled into the rugged wilderness of northern British Columbia with his wife and children, his mother and father, and with Peter Himadam, his brother-in-law, also accused of murder, and his wife. Gunanoot and Himadam were outlaws for 13 years and were never caught. Gunanoot surrendered in 1919, stood trial and was acquitted. During his exile, he had changed in the public eye from a common criminal to a folk hero. Author David Williams, an experienced trial lawyer, describes the search for Gunanoot and the men who conducted it. The early attempts of the northern First Nations to establish aboriginal rights to traditional lands and the resulting tension between the Indian and the white communities was partly responsible for the failure of the police to capture him.Was he innocent? The author reaches a conclusion based on his own extensive experience as a trial lawyer.” SIGNED and dedicated by the author.