New book investigates life of John Bjornstrom, Bushman of the Shuswap

Photo: The World News

One of the Shuswap's most notorious residents is the subject of a new book.

The Bushman's Lair: On the Trail of the Fugitive of the Shuswap is written by author Paul McKendrick.

John Bjornstrom, known as the Bushman of the Shuswap, escaped from jail in Kamloops and was on the lam for two years before being captured in November 2001.

He survived in the backwoods around Shuswap Lake, stealing food and supplies from cabins while evading police.

But, he was far from shy, speaking to the media several times – and that would be his undoing. RCMP posed as journalists making a documentary to arrest Bjornstrom.

In 2004, he was sentenced to house arrest for 23 months after pleading guilty to 10 charges, including break and enter.

Bjornstrom died in 2018 in his hometown of Williams Lake, but not before playing the town Santa and running (unsuccessfully) for mayor in 2014.

"Some of Western Canada’s most enduring legends involve wilderness fugitives," says McKendrick. "This book is about one of the most mysterious and most recent... For several years he played cat and mouse with the RCMP, raiding summer cottages for supplies and giving media interviews at the edge of the bush only to vanish like smoke."

McKendrick says he became obsessed with the Bushman after a group of houseboaters discovered a doorway built into a rocky outcrop above a remote arm of Shuswap Lake.

"It opened into an elaborately excavated 900-square-foot home, complete with electricity and other amenities – the Bushman’s long-sought hideout."

McKendrick began reaching out to people who knew the man, wondering why he escaped from prison shortly before completing his sentence.

McKendrick lives in Canmore, Alta., and holds degrees from UBC and Dalhousie. He is the owner and operator of a running and Nordic ski store with his wife, Kylie.

His book is available through Harbour Publishing for $22.95.

Photo: Harbour Publishing