The bizzare story of how five men became dinner in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains

Alfred Packer’s Cannibalism Scandal in Colorado’s Mountains

Alfred Packer led five men into Colorado’s San Juan Mountains in 1874, but walked out alone. He showed up well-fed with his dead friends’ cash and gear after a brutal winter.

At first, Packer claimed they died of cold, but later said he killed one in self-defense before eating them all. He broke out of jail, lived as “John Schwartze” for nine years, then got caught and locked up.

A Denver Post reporter named Polly Pry fought for his release, and in 1901, he walked free. The old Territorial Prison still stands with Packer’s cell intact, telling the tale of America’s most famous cannibal.

Gold fever drove desperate men into deadly mountains

Alfred Packer joined 21 men in Bingham Canyon, Utah, in November 1873, all hoping to get rich in Colorado’s gold fields.

Packer talked big about being an expert mountain guide, though he had few real skills and most people thought he was grumpy and difficult.

The winter of 1873-74 turned out to be brutal, with heavy snow and freezing cold.

The men struggled for three months, moving slowly through deep snow, finding almost no animals to hunt, and finally eating livestock feed to stay alive.

Chief Ouray begged them to wait until spring

By January 1874, the tired travelers found Chief Ouray’s Ute camp near today’s Montrose, Colorado. The chief felt sorry for them and gave them food and shelter.

He warned them not to go into the San Juan Mountains until spring, knowing how deadly the conditions were. Packer and five friends ignored this advice.

Shannon Bell, Frank Miller, George “California” Noon, James Humphrey, and Israel Swan followed Packer into the mountains on February 9, 1874.

Gold fever made them unwilling to wait.

The lone survivor showed up suspiciously well-fed

On April 16, 1874, Packer walked alone into the Los Piños Indian Agency looking healthy for someone who just survived a brutal winter outdoors.

Indian Agent Charles Adams got suspicious when Packer said he lost his friends during a storm. Adams saw Packer carrying money and personal items that belonged to the missing men.

Packer’s story seemed fishy, as he claimed he lived on rabbits and rosebuds while his companions went ahead without him.

Tough questioning broke down Packer’s lies

Agent Adams grilled Packer hard on May 9, 1874, until he finally admitted to eating human flesh. In his first confession, Packer claimed four men died from cold and hunger, and the survivors ate their bodies to live.

He said he killed Shannon Bell only to protect himself when Bell came at him with a hatchet, then ate Bell’s body too.

Adams kept pushing until he got the whole story, then sent a report to Washington about the gruesome case.

Bodies told a different story near Lake City

In August 1874, searchers found all five bodies at one campsite near Lake City, which went against Packer’s story about men dying one by one along the trail.

The bodies showed clear signs of violence: smashed skulls, deep hatchet cuts, and flesh carefully removed from bones.

Oddly, on the same day the bodies were found, Packer escaped from the Saguache County jail, likely with someone’s help.

This timing made him look even more guilty.

Nearly a decade on the run ended with a chance meeting

Packer ran for nine years, moving through Arizona, Montana, Oregon, and finally Wyoming. He called himself “John Schwartze” and worked odd jobs to blend in with frontier towns.

His luck ran out in March 1883 when Jean “Frenchy” Cabazon, who had been part of the original Utah group, spotted Packer by chance in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Cabazon knew him right away and told local police, ending Packer’s long run from justice.

The cannibal changed his story after capture

Police caught Packer in Cheyenne on March 11, 1883, and Charles Adams traveled there to make sure they had the right man. On March 16, Packer gave Adams a totally different second confession in Denver.

This time he claimed Shannon Bell went crazy and killed the other four men with a hatchet while Packer was away scouting.

Packer said he shot Bell to protect himself when Bell attacked him, then only ate the bodies after several more days alone and starving.

A judge delivered the most memorable sentencing in Colorado history

Packer’s trial started April 6, 1883, in Lake City’s Hinsdale County Courthouse, where he faced charges for killing Israel Swan.

Lawyers argued Packer planned to kill and rob the men all along. After a week of testimony, the jury found him guilty of planned murder on April 13.

Judge Melville Gerry sentenced Packer to hang on May 19, reportedly saying:

“There were seven Democrats in Hinsdale County and you ate five of them, God damn you. I sentence you to be hanged by the neck until you are dead, dead, dead.”

A legal loophole saved Packer from the gallows

Packer’s lawyers found a big mistake that saved his life: he got tried under state law for crimes that happened when Colorado was still a territory.

The Colorado Supreme Court canceled his death sentence in October 1885 because of this error. At his second trial in Gunnison in June 1886, the jury found him guilty of five counts of manslaughter instead of murder.

His new sentence: 40 years in Canon City prison, eight years per victim.

A female reporter fought to free America’s most famous cannibal

Denver Post reporter Polly Pry met Packer while researching Colorado’s prison system and came to believe he wasn’t a cold-blooded killer.

She started a public campaign in her newspaper columns, arguing that eating human flesh to survive should be viewed like maritime law, where desperate situations change moral judgments.

The Denver Post owners Frederick Bonfils and Harry Tammen backed her efforts and hired lawyers to help Packer.

Pry’s emotional articles changed public opinion in Packer’s favor.

The cannibal became a vegetarian after prison

Governor Charles Thomas granted Packer parole on January 8, 1901, as his final act before leaving office. Packer had to follow strict rules: stay in Colorado and never profit from his notorious story.

After 17 years behind bars, he worked as a security guard at the Denver Post and lived quietly in Littleton. He died on April 23, 1907, from a stroke.

People who knew him in his final years claimed he became a vegetarian and maintained his innocence about the murders until his death.

Visiting Territorial Prison, Colorado

The Colorado Territorial Prison Museum at 201 N 1st St in Canon City tells Alfred Packer’s story along with other infamous inmates.

You’ll pay $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $5 for kids 6-12. It’s open Wednesday-Sunday 10am-5pm in winter, daily 10am-6pm in summer.

You can take self-guided MP3 tours or book guided tours ahead of time. The museum uses the old Women’s Correctional Facility from 1935.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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