Alfred Griner Packer (January 21, 1842 – April 23, 1907), also known as the "Colorado Cannibal", was an American prospector and self-proclaimed wilderness guide who confessed to cannibalism during the winter of 1874. Though no clear or definitive evidence has yet been found, and despite in-depth research about proof of his deeds, he is one of the four persons historically convicted for cannibalism in the United States. After emerging as the sole survivor of a six-man party who had attempted to travel through the San Juan Mountains of the Colorado Territory, he eventually confessed to having lived off the flesh of his companions, giving more than one version of his account as to the circumstances.
After his story was called into question, Packer escaped jail and hid from justice for nine years. He was eventually tried, convicted of premeditated murder, and sentenced to death. Packer won a retrial, and was eventually sentenced to 40 years in prison on five counts of voluntary manslaughter. An almost completely fictitious biopic of his exploits, The Legend of Alfred Packer, was released in 1980. A more comedic and heavily fabricated take on the story, titled Cannibal! The Musical, was released in 1993.
Alfred Griner Packer was born in an unincorporated area of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, on January 21, 1842. He was one of three children born to James Packer, and Esther Packer (née Griner). By the early 1850s, Packer's father had moved his family to LaGrange County, Indiana, where he worked as a cabinetmaker. Packer is said to have had a bitter relationship with his parents, and in his late teens he moved to Minnesota and worked as a shoemaker.
Packer served in the Union army during the American Civil War. He enlisted on April 22, 1862, in Winona, Minnesota, and was assigned to Company F of the 16th Infantry Regiment. Eight months later he was honorably discharged due to epilepsy, which had triggered seizures. On June 25, 1863, Packer enlisted in the 8th Iowa Cavalry Regiment at Ottumwa, Iowa, only for his epilepsy to result in a second discharge on April 22, 1864.
Packer then traveled west, and worked at numerous jobs over the next nine years. These professions included being a hunter, wagon teamster, ranch hand, and field worker, but his seizures and overall attitude ensured that he never kept a job for long. Packer also worked for a couple of months as a guide, but those who knew him at this time later stated that he was ill-suited to the role and was prone to losing his way. He ended up working mining-related jobs, drifting from mine to mine, but never found prosperity through the industry. He worked for a short time in the Colorado Territory as a miner but, having no luck, moved on to the Utah Territory.
Most who knew Packer generally disliked and distrusted him, owing to his argumentative personality, his nearly pathological lying, and his reputation for theft.
Having heard of gold that had been discovered in Breckenridge, Robert McGrue found a party of 20 ready to join him and make the trip from Salt Lake City to the San Juan Mountains, south of Colorado Territory. The men, who were largely strangers to each other, left by November 1873. One of them, George Tracy, declared that the party encountered a 23-year-old man called Alfred Packer near Provo. After they told him they were headed to the gold country of the San Juan Mountains, Packer said he would like to join them, claiming he was both a prospector and a guide, and that he knew the San Juan territory well. As he had no provisions, he offered $25 to join the band. The prospectors, who needed a guide, accepted Packer's help.
On the first part of the trip to the San Juan Mountains, members of McGrue's party later said he had apparently overstated his experience of being familiar to the area, or had even possibly fabricated his qualifications altogether. He was also reported as being without a rifle at the time the expedition left, having only a Colt revolver with him. Throughout the course of their journey, Packer was reported as being greedy with rations, lazy, and obstinate. He apparently was obsessed with how much money the members had brought with them for the journey. He was reported to have quarreled constantly with party member Frank Miller. At the time of his first trial, Packer was characterized as a "whining fraud" by party member Preston Nutter. His epileptic seizures also made his presence in the group apparently strenuous. Moreover, there were rumours about Packer having spent time in jail in Salt Lake City, on the charge of having murdered a hunting partner.
Despite the presence of Packer as a guide, the party progressed more slowly than expected towards Breckenridge. The winter proved to be a major obstacle for them, crippling wagons and horses. While progressing along the Spanish Trail they encountered heavy snow which hid the path, forcing the party members to rely almost solely on a compass. Packer's inexperience was also beginning to show itself, and the party ultimately became lost. Provisions quickly ran out, and the men were reduced to surviving first on horse feed, and were nearing the point where they would consider eating the horses themselves.
On January 21, 1874, the party came upon the encampment of Chief Ouray, known as the White Man's Friend, near Montrose, Colorado, set in the Uncompahgre Valley. Though desperate, the party still approached the camp with anxiety, unsure of how they would be received by the tribe. However, Chief Ouray supplied them with food and lodging and recommended they postpone their expedition until spring, since they were likely to encounter dangerous winter weather in the mountains. He told them that no Ute would attempt such a journey, and that to chance it would be to risk almost certain death. Ouray offered to allow the men to stay with his tribe until the winter had passed, and promised to share all that he and his people had with them. Regardless of these warnings, 11 men decided to proceed on. They intended to travel first to the Los Pinós Indian Agency, which was the closest outpost to the camp, and proceed onward to Breckenridge. Chief Ouray provided them with food for their journey, as well as safe directions to bypass the mountains. Packer, however, was in favor of getting to the agency by going through the mountains, stating it was a more direct route. The party cut in two, with five men following Oliver Loutsenhizer along the Gunnison River, and six others, among them Packer, heading through the San Juan Mountains. Had Packer wanted to follow the other group, Loutsenhizer threatened that he would shoot him.
On February 9, Packer and the five others in his party left for the Los Pinós Indian Agency, 75 miles ahead. Besides Packer, the group comprised George "California" Noon, a teenager; Israel Swan, an elderly man rumored to be carrying thousands in cash; James Humphrey; Frank "Butcher" Miller, a butcher from Germany; and the red-haired Shannon Wilson Bell. The fact that no one in the other group opposed the departure of their "guide" has led many researchers to conclude that Packer's inexperience and overall attitude had become quite taxing to them, and that they figured they were better off without him. The leader of the combined parties, Bob McGrue, guided Packer's men along the river route advised by Chief Ouray until his horses could not continue. McGrue unloaded the men's provisions and went back to Ouray's camp. The men continued along the Gunnison River for a time, before Packer took his party along a path higher up in the San Juan Mountains, disregarding Ouray's warning. This decision was made when the men barely had enough food to cover the supposed 14 days it would take to travel the safest route, possessed no snowshoes, had a bare minimum of matches and no flint, and also had no heavy clothing that would help against the extreme cold. They went into the mountains with two rifles, one pistol, a couple of knives, a hatchet, and minimal ammunition.