Once condemned as an aquatic menace, the bull trout was hunted, despised, and blamed for the decline of prized sport fish in Montana. Today it stands as a valued native species and a symbol of ecological fragility in the US West. The Cannibal of Montana’s Streams tells the remarkable story behind that transformation. Focusing on the Bitterroot River basin of western Montana, Adam R. Hodge traces the intertwined histories of a fish, a watershed, and a settler society that reshaped both. Drawing on historical documents, scientific research, and Native American oral traditions, he reveals how irrigation, logging, dam construction, livestock grazing, and the introduction of nonnative fish altered aquatic ecosystems and marginalized bull trout populations. At the same time, he charts a dramatic shift in human attitudes. A species once vilified as a predator threatening recreational fishing gradually came to be understood as a crucial apex predator and a key indicator of watershed health. The rise of modern fisheries science, environmental activism, endangered species recovery efforts, and watershed restoration initiatives all contributed to this reversal in perception. The Cannibal of Montana’s Streams offers a compelling “biography” of a species―and a powerful reminder that human ambitions can transform entire ecosystems, often with lasting and irreversible consequences. "With clear prose and an eye for detail, Adam Hodge offers one of the best case studies in the field of environmental history. He focuses on the Bitterroot Valley in Montana, offering both a microcosm of the history of bull trout in its larger Pacific Northwestern range and a history of western economic development and its impacts on the environment. Historians, biologists, and anglers alike should read this book."―Jen Corrinne Brown, author of Trout Culture: How Fly Fishing Forever Changed the Rocky Mountain West "A fascinating history of both bull trout and the state’s Rocky Mountain fisheries more broadly. Hodge’s species-centered approach provides a valuable window into resource usage, economic development, environmental degradation, and wildlife management from the nineteenth century to the present. Anyone interested in these historical dynamics or just curious about the varied human relationship to bull trout will find this book essential reading."―James Martin, Montana State University A maligned predator's past reveals how colonialism and conservation reshape western waterways Adam Hodge is Head of Reference at the Kansas State Archives and author of Ecology and Ethnogenesis: An Environmental History of the Wind River Shoshones, 1000–1868 .