Quote
If God did not intend for us to eat animals, then why did he make them out of meat? ~John Cleese
Not eating meat is a decision, eating meat is an instinct. ~Denis Leary
Colorado Characters
At my Alma Mater, the University of Colorado, the campus cafeteria is named the Alfred Packard Memorial Cafeteria.
In late 1873, Alfred Packer and a group of 20 other prospectors left Bingham Canyon, Utah and headed east, intent on going prospecting in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. They only made it to Chief Ouray's camp in the vicinity of what is now Montrose and Delta, Colorado. It was an extremely severe winter and the Ute Indians urged the party of prospectors not to go into the mountains.
Five of the men had gold fever so bad they just couldn't wait. Their plan was to hire Alfred Packer as their guide and go to the Los Piños Indian Agency on Cochetopa Creek The mountain passes were treacherous, the avalanche danger was high and, in places, there could be enough snowfall to simply bury the men.
February 9, 1874, Alferd Packer, Israel Swan, James Humphrey, Wilson Bell, Frank Miller, and George Noon ventured into the San Juan Mountains from Chief Ouray's camp. In the best of times it was a 75-mile trip but they started out thinking it was only 40 miles and they carried only 10-days supply of food (according to one of Packer's versions of the story). They found themselves trapped in snow up to their shoulders with more snow accumulating. If only they'd gone left instead of right, and descended the Lake Fork instead of ascending it... but Packer was their guide.
Only one man emerged on the other side of the mountains that next April. Packer staggered another 50 miles to the Los Piños Indian Agency, arriving there on April 16, 1874, but he was looking pretty healthy for someone who said he'd been struggling through heavy snow for ten weeks.
Packer was tried and convicted of murdering the other five members of his party. In several conflicting versions of his story, he was away from camp,gathering wood, looking for game, etc, and each time when he returned the survivors were sitting around the campfire eating parts of the most recent victim. What could he do but join in? Finally it came down to Wilson Bell and Packer. Bell decided to finish off Packer, but in the ensuing fight Packer killed Bell.
The judge said, "I sentence you to hang by the neck until you die, die, die. There was only seven democrats in Hinsdale county and you killed five of them." Through legal wrangling, Packer was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter and was sent to jail. After a few years he was paroled, and died of natural causes in Denver in 1907.
bon appétit
Murder in the Rockies
The fictional tale of Murder in the Rockies has some violence, but it is all off-scene and is not as grisly as the real life story of Alfred Packer. In fact, Murder in the Rockies is a borderline "cozy mystery." Check it out and see if you agree.
Comments
Please leave your questions and comments in the "Comments" section below.
If God did not intend for us to eat animals, then why did he make them out of meat? ~John Cleese
Not eating meat is a decision, eating meat is an instinct. ~Denis Leary
Colorado Characters
At my Alma Mater, the University of Colorado, the campus cafeteria is named the Alfred Packard Memorial Cafeteria.
In late 1873, Alfred Packer and a group of 20 other prospectors left Bingham Canyon, Utah and headed east, intent on going prospecting in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. They only made it to Chief Ouray's camp in the vicinity of what is now Montrose and Delta, Colorado. It was an extremely severe winter and the Ute Indians urged the party of prospectors not to go into the mountains.
Five of the men had gold fever so bad they just couldn't wait. Their plan was to hire Alfred Packer as their guide and go to the Los Piños Indian Agency on Cochetopa Creek The mountain passes were treacherous, the avalanche danger was high and, in places, there could be enough snowfall to simply bury the men.
February 9, 1874, Alferd Packer, Israel Swan, James Humphrey, Wilson Bell, Frank Miller, and George Noon ventured into the San Juan Mountains from Chief Ouray's camp. In the best of times it was a 75-mile trip but they started out thinking it was only 40 miles and they carried only 10-days supply of food (according to one of Packer's versions of the story). They found themselves trapped in snow up to their shoulders with more snow accumulating. If only they'd gone left instead of right, and descended the Lake Fork instead of ascending it... but Packer was their guide.
Only one man emerged on the other side of the mountains that next April. Packer staggered another 50 miles to the Los Piños Indian Agency, arriving there on April 16, 1874, but he was looking pretty healthy for someone who said he'd been struggling through heavy snow for ten weeks.
Packer was tried and convicted of murdering the other five members of his party. In several conflicting versions of his story, he was away from camp,gathering wood, looking for game, etc, and each time when he returned the survivors were sitting around the campfire eating parts of the most recent victim. What could he do but join in? Finally it came down to Wilson Bell and Packer. Bell decided to finish off Packer, but in the ensuing fight Packer killed Bell.
The judge said, "I sentence you to hang by the neck until you die, die, die. There was only seven democrats in Hinsdale county and you killed five of them." Through legal wrangling, Packer was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter and was sent to jail. After a few years he was paroled, and died of natural causes in Denver in 1907.
bon appétit
Murder in the Rockies
The fictional tale of Murder in the Rockies has some violence, but it is all off-scene and is not as grisly as the real life story of Alfred Packer. In fact, Murder in the Rockies is a borderline "cozy mystery." Check it out and see if you agree.
Comments
Please leave your questions and comments in the "Comments" section below.