Alferd Packer - Packer's Life

Packer's Life

He was born as Alfred Griner Packer in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, one of three children of James Packer and his wife Esther Griner. By the early 1850s, James Packer had moved his family to Lagrange County, Indiana, where he worked as a cabinet maker.

Alfred Packer served in the Union Army in the American Civil War, enlisting on April 22, 1862 at Winona, Minnesota in Company F, 16th U. S. Infantry Regiment, giving his occupation as a shoemaker. However, he was discharged for epilepsy eight months later at Fort Ontario, New York. He returned west again and on June 25, 1863, he enlisted in Company L, 8th Iowa Cavalry Regiment at Ottumwa, Iowa; he was discharged at Cleveland, Tennessee on April 22, 1864, for the same reason. He finally decided to try his luck at prospecting.

In November 1873, Packer was in a party of 21 men who left Provo, Utah, heading for the Colorado gold country around Breckenridge. On January 21, 1874 he met Chief Ouray, known as the White Man's Friend, near Montrose, Colorado. Chief Ouray recommended they postpone their expedition until spring, since they were likely to encounter dangerous winter weather in the mountains.

Ignoring Ouray's advice, Packer and five others left for Gunnison, Colorado, on February 9. Besides Packer, the group was made up of Shannon Wilson Bell, James Humphrey, Frank "Reddy" Miller, George "California" Noon, and Israel Swan.

The prospectors became hopelessly lost and ran out of provisions. They were snowbound in the Rocky Mountains. Packer later made three confessions which differed considerably about what happened. In the last, he claimed he went scouting and came back to find Shannon Bell roasting human flesh. Bell rushed him with a hatchet, and Packer shot him. Packer claimed Bell had gone mad and murdered the others.

On April 16, 1874, Packer arrived at Los Pinos Indian Agency near Gunnison. He spent some time in a saloon in Saguache, Colorado, where he met several of his original party. Packer claimed he had acted in self-defense, but his story was not believed. According to tradition, the presiding judge, M.B. Gerry, allegedly told him:

In reality, what Judge Gerry told him was much more educated:

Packer signed a confession on August 5, 1874. He was jailed in Saguache, but he escaped soon afterwards.

On March 11, 1883, Packer was discovered in Cheyenne, Wyoming, living under the alias of "John Schwartze." On March 16, he signed another confession. On April 6, a trial began in Lake City, Colorado. On April 13, he was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to death. In October 1885, the sentence was reversed by the Colorado Supreme Court as being based on an ex post facto law. On June 8, 1886, Packer was sentenced to 40 years at another trial in Gunnison. At the time, this was the longest custodial sentence in U.S. history.

On June 19, 1899, Packer's sentence was upheld by the Colorado Supreme Court. However, he was paroled on February 8, 1901, and went to work as a guard at the Denver Post. He died in Deer Creek, in Jefferson County, Colorado, reputedly of "Senility - trouble & worry" at the age of 65. Packer is widely rumored to have become a vegetarian before his death. He was buried in Littleton, Colorado. His grave is marked with a veteran's tombstone listing his original regiment in 1862.