The Fort Heritage Precinct in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta is launching a new evening tour this summer that explores the city’s grim past as “The Hanging Town.” The 90-minute guided program, called A History of Fort Gaol Murders, runs July 9-10 and August 6-7, 2026 at 7:00pm and focuses on some of the 34 people executed at the Fort and Provincial Gaol between 1879 and 1960.
Tickets for the adult-oriented tour cost $13.00 per person through TicketPro. Organizers say the program shares the chilling stories behind the city’s reputation as Alberta’s primary execution site for nearly a century, a chapter that still echoes in local landmarks and the unmarked graves at the gaol cemetery.
Fort Saskatchewan’s connection to capital punishment began on December 20, 1879, when Swift Runner, a Cree man, was hanged at the NWMP fort for murdering and cannibalizing eight family members. When the Provincial Gaol opened in 1915, it took over as the province’s execution hub. In total, 29 prisoners were put to death at the gaol between 1916 and 1960, with the full count rising to 34 when including the earlier fort-era hangings.
Among the notable cases highlighted in the tour are Florence Lassandro, the only woman ever executed in Alberta, and Robert Raymond Cook, the last person hanged in the province. Lassandro and Emilio Picariello were convicted of killing a police constable during a bootlegging dispute and were hanged together on May 2, 1923. Cook was put to death on November 15, 1960, for the murder of seven family members, maintaining his innocence until the end.
The Provincial Gaol operated for 74 years until 1988, when it was replaced by a modern correctional centre. Today, the Fort Heritage Precinct preserves the site’s layered history, including the remaining 1937 Warden’s Residence and the nearby gaol cemetery, where 19 unnamed markers remember those executed.
