The Southwest U.S. is a harsh place — with unpredictable weather conditions, lack of water and food and harsh terrain. It frequently drove men and women to extreme lengths to survive. Perhaps the most famous of these survival stories comes from the wagon train that has come to be known as the Donner Party. Unfortunately for the party, they choose a torturously difficult route from Springfield, Illinois, to Sutter’s Fort in California. Weeks behind schedule and desperately short of food, the Donner Party did not reach the mountains of California until late October — where they were stopped by the first blizzard of what would prove to be the worst winter in the history of the Sierra Nevada. For five months, the group was trapped on eastern side of the Sierra. Their struggle to survive culminated in death and cannibalism. Of the 87 men, women and children in the Donner Party, 46 survived: two thirds of the women and children, but only one third of the men.

The Donner Party isn’t the only instance of cannibalism in the Old West. In 1873, 21 prospectors left Salt Lake City, Utah, bound for the gold fields in Colorado. Near Montrose, Colorado, the bulk of the party stopped and sought shelter with a band of Ute Indians for the winter months. However, six men — Shannon Wilson Bell, Israel Swan, James Humphrey, Frank “Reddy” Miller, George “California” Noon and Alfred Packer — decided to push on. Under the impression the trip was around 40 miles, the men packed just 10 days worth of food. In actuality, the trip was closer to 75 miles. Bad weather and rough terrain slowed the trip even more. Just past Lake San Cristobal, the party became snowbound.

The subsequent events are confusing. Some say a party of prospectors came through in the spring and asked after the lost party. However, popular legend says that Alfred Packer walked out of the mountains and told folks that he had become separated from the group and managed to make his way out of the mountains alone. Folks were a might suspicious of the new knife and rifle and the wads of money Packer suddenly had, particularly since he’d always been known as a penniless drifter.

Under pressure, Alfred Packer finally admitted what had happened during those fateful months. The companions supplies quickly ran out. The lakes and rivers were frozen over so they couldn’t fish and the game had gone down into the low country for the winter. They decided to press on, but found the going difficult. Israel Swan, age 65, succumbed to hunger and exhaustion about 10 days after the party departed Montrose. The other companions had all taken pieces of Israel to eat. Next came James Humphrey, who died four or five days later. Packer admitted to taken $133 dollars from Humphrey, after all, the dead man didn’t need it anymore. It was never clear why the other party members didn’t think to search the body.

Alfred Packer says that Frank Miller had an accident while the two were gathering wood, although he never specified exactly what happened. Next to die was George Noon, age 18. Apparently, Bell shot Noon while Packer was away hunting. The two men divided the boy’s corpse between them. Then Bell decided he wanted to be the only survivor and attacked Packer, who says he killed Bell in self defense.

Authorities were highly suspicious of the story and told Alfred Packer to lead them back to where Bell died. They failed to find any trace of the missing prospectors. In August, it became clear the Packer’s confession was a complete lie. An illustrator from Harper’s Weekly stumbled on the grisly remains of all five men, sketched and then published the illustration. One man’s head was missing, and large chunks of meat were cut from the breasts and the thighs of the men. It appears that at least one man had put up a fight. However, the coroner didn’t record his findings so we will never know for sure what he found at the scene of the crime.

When authorities returned to town, the learned that Alfred Packer had escaped from the rickety jailhouse and had vanished. He managed to evade capture for nine years, living under the assumed name of John Schwartze. No one knew how he made a living or why he ventured back into civilization, but in 1883, one of the 21 prospectors recognized his distinctive laughter in a saloon in Fort Fetterman, Wyoming.

Captured and jailed, again Alfred Packer confessed, only this time he claimed he was the guide for the other five men and was scouting ahead. When he returned to camp, he found that Bell, who had been acting crazy that morning, had used a hatchet to kill the other four and was roasting the meat from one of the men. Bell attacked Packer and Packer killed him in self defense. He did admit to eating some of the flesh of two of the men before making his way out of the mountains (although in a letter he later sent to the Denver newspaper, he denied this part of the story).

Contrary to many stories told in later years, and even today, Alfred Packer was never charged with, tried for, or convicted of cannibalism, or crimes related to cannibalism. Packer went before a grand jury, where he was convicted only of the murder of Bell. Legend has it that Judge Gerry then pronounced the sentence as “Packer, you man-eating son of a bitch, there were seven democrats in this county and you ate five of them. I sentence you to be hanged by the neck until dead, dead, dead!” In truth, according to court documents, Gerry, who was an educated man, actually said, “Close your ears to the blandishments of hope. Listen not to the flattering promises of life, but prepare for the dread certainty of death.” He was apparently convinced that the motive for the murder was robbery, not survival or self-defense.

Packer managed not to hang by the neck until dead, dead, dead. He won the right to a new trial on a technicality. Packer had committed murder while Colorado was a territory (which had no murder statute) but was tried when Colorado was a state (which did have a murder statute). At any rate, he was retried for all five deaths in 1886, on a different charge, voluntary manslaughter. The jury convicted him and sentenced him to 40 years (8 years for each man) in the state penitentiary.

After nearly 20 years, Packer won parole and ended his days as a mine supervisor and telling tales to children of his adventures. Many thought him a nice old man and many believed he was an innocent victim of circumstances. He was buried in Littleton, Colorado, at Prince Avenue Cemetery.

To this day, Rocky Mountain legends still talk about the Colorado Cannibal and songs, movies and stories have been written about him. Was he guilty of murder and cannibalism, or merely a victim of circumstance? We may never know, but the legend of Alfred Packer the Colorado Cannibal lives on.

In the Colorado Rockies
Where the snow is deep and cold
And a man afoot can starve to death
Unless he’s brave and bold

Oh Alfred Packer
You’ll surely go to hell
While all the others starved to death
You dined a bit too well

—from The Ballad of Alfred Packer