Walter Runke
Walter Runke (1879-1964) was an American politician from Arizona. He served two terms in the Arizona State Senate during the 7th and 8th Arizona State Legislatures, holding the seat from Coconino County. Runke was born on October 6, 1879, in Algoma, Wisconsin. He first moved to Arizona in 1901, settling in Winslow, and working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He held several positions with the BIA throughout the western United States, including overseeing the Paiute Indians in Northern Arizona, southern Utah, and western Nevada, heading the Klamath Indian Agency in Oregon, had charge of the Yankton Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, as well as overseeing the Mission Indians in southern California. In 1916, Runke was charged with the murder of a Navajo man named Taddy Tin. Tin had reportedly the superintendent’s forced recruitment tactics. Runke ordered three reservation police officers: Ashley Wilson, Ed Nash, and David Robinson, to arrest Tin. After a fight broke out between the men, Wilson, who was the local chief of police, fatally shot Tin. All four men were charged with murder. Wilson, Nash, and Robinson were tried jointly, but were all acquitted on the grounds of self-defense by an all-white jury. This happened after