Alfred Packer, an infamous name our Colorado history

   One hundred and fifty years ago, during a brutal winter in the San Juan mountains of Colorado, legend states Alfred Packer survived by eating at least some of his five companions. 

  What exactly took place, only Packer knew, and over his lifetime, the details of his story changed making the account of what happened read like a novel. 

   Alfred G. Packer was born in Pennsylvania in 1842. As a young man, he was a shoemaker by trade. When the Civil War broke out, he joined company F, 16th U.S. Infantry.  Afflicted with epilepsy he was discharge a few months later. Having a feel for army life, he then enlisted in an Iowa regiment, but was soon let go for the same reason. 

   Heading west to search for gold, by 1873 he was working as a guide in the wilds of Utah and Colorado. During the winter in question, he was employed to lead twenty-one men to the gold fields of Breckenridge Co. 

   After three harrowing months of deadly storms, the group was saved when they located the camp of Ute Indian Chief Ouray. This was near Montrose, Co.  

   The Chief generously provided food and shelter and advised the men to wait out the weather. Ignoring the sage wisdom, Packer and five men left on their own. Sixty six days later, Alfred Packer came out of the mountains alone. 

                                

   Parker stated he got separated from the others and survived on rabbits and rose buds. The fact he carried a good amount of cash and personal possessions of the other five men, raised questions. When pressed, he changed his story stating along their travels, one man after another succumbed to the treacherous weather, and to survive, each man in turn was eaten by the rest. Finally when only he and a man named Shannon Bell were left, Bell went crazy and Packer had to kill him in self-defense. 

                                

   Although a horrible tale, cannibalism was not unheard of (the Donner party of 1846–1847), and the story would have been taken as truth until the skeletons of the five men were eventually found and they were all together not strung out along a trail indicating they had not died one by one. 

  Israel Swan's body showed signs of struggle, and Parker was charged with his murder, but he escaped jail the very night of his arrest, and remained at larger for nine years.             

   Finally recognized in Wyoming, Parker was captured and returned to Colorado. His ever changing story now stated all the men were alive in camp when he took off alone seeking a useful trail. Returning after several hours, he found Shannon Bell had gone mad and killed the others. Then Bell attacked Parker who shot Bell in self-defense at which time he resorted to eating the dead. 

   This time a jury convicted Packer of the single murder and he was sentenced to hang. Due to some typed of legislation error the conviction was over turned, but then at a new trial he was charged with five counts of manslaughter and was convicted and sentenced to forty years in prison. He was remanded to the State Prison in Canon City in 1886. 

    Due to the efforts of Denver Post editors and reporter Polly Pry, who were convinced of his innocence, he was paroled in 1901 and went to work briefly as a guard at the Post building in downtown Denver.    

        Packer spent the final years of his life living in and around Littleton —on Harrison Avenue and on west Hampden. According to Littleton historian Dave Hicks, "He was described as a kindly man who would take children on his lap and tell them of his early days in the old west."  

  He died April 24, 1907, evidently of liver and stomach troubles. Because he was a Civil War veteran, the military paid for the funeral and provided the tombstone, which reads: "Alfred Packer, Co. F, 16 U.S. Inf." His dying words, according to the Littleton Independent, were "I'm not guilty of the charge."        

                                       

On a dark humorous note, CU Boulder has a the Alferd Pacer restaurant & Grill. (His first name was occasionally spelled Alferd due to the misspelling of a tattoo he got.)

https://www.museum.littletonco.gov/Research/Littleton-History/Biographies/Packer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_PackerWikipedia 

                

My Stories: 

Western Romance: Break Heart Canyon * Undercover Outlaw * Cowboys, Cattle and Cutthroats * A Cowboy’s Fate*Special Delivery. 

Contemporary Romantic Thriller: Fatal Recall

Medieval Romance: The Dragon and The Rose * Iron Heart        *Promise Me Christmas. 

Victorian Romance: Lady Gallant * Victorian Dream 

Fantasy: The Fae Warriors Trilogy: Solace * Bliss * Portence 

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   Clover City, Colorado—1888
   A mysterious letter and the drop-dead handsome town marshal, are the last things Mariah expects to find making rounds as a midwife.   

   Mariah McAllister plans to be married before her next birthday. Too bad Marshal Virgil Kincaid barely knows she’s alive. Not one to give up easily, she’s determined to show him she has an abiding passion for more than her work.
    Virgil Kincaid loved a woman once—after she broke his heart, he spent three years in prison. Women can’t be trusted, no matter how good they look. He’s sworn off relationships in favor of Saturday night poker games. 

    Life is simple---the way he wants it---until a stranger turns up dead in the road. Forced to work side by side with Mariah, Virgil begins to wonder if she might be his second chance at love. 

   As they trade kisses and oh so much more, he’s willing to take the gamble. But when a killer threatens their once peaceful town, all bets are off.  

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        Virgil Kincaid was a prime cut of man. Over six feet tall, he made Mariah’s five-foot seven height seem less gawky and awkward. And he was built for action, long and lean with broad shoulders—shoulders she hankered to hold onto—and with narrow hips—hips she could easily envision pressed up against her own. 
      And then there were his eyes. Grey as the sky in winter, full of secrets, revealing nothing. Virgil had been the town Marshal for nearly three years, yet no one knew where he’d come from or how long he intended to stay. What would it take to light a fire in those eyes and put settling down in his thoughts? 
       Her gaze drifted lower and latched onto the front of his denim trousers. A picture of what he might look like naked skittered across her mind and her cheeks grew hot at the imagining. 
       “You done lookin?” he asked.
        Her gaze snapped up to meet his and the heat of humiliation replaced the lustful warmth. 
        “Yes,” she babbled, “there doesn’t seem to be anything of interest here.”  
        “Really?” he challenged, with a cocky grin and a raised brow. 
         He stepped closer and stood so near she could smell the man sent of him as she tried to ratchet her breathing down to a more normal rate. 
        “You’re a very unusual woman, Miss McAllister.” 
        “Is that good or bad?” she dared to ask.
        “I’m not sure yet.”  

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The Fort in Morrison Colorado

 The Fort restaurant, in Morrison, Colorado, opened for business in February 1963. But the story of how it got there started a few years before. 

 In 1961,  Elizabeth Arnold decided she wanted to raise her children outside the city. As she was reading a book about Bents Fort, she got the idea to make it an "adobe castle".  They hired William Lumpkins, a top architect in adobe construction from Santa Fe, and using 80,000 mud and straw bricks, weighing 40 pounds each, the main building evolved. When the budget was surpassed, the idea for using part of the structure for a restaurant was suggested and The Fort restaurant opened for business.

 

   That same year the family adopted a black bear named Sissy. They raised their big furry pet, beloved by tourists, for 19 years until she died of old age. 

  Now an historic site, you can visit and eat at The Fort located in Morrison, Colorado and/or sign up for a one-hour tour to discover how this adobe building came to be. (Tours can be booked for groups of ten or more.)

   The food is, of course, historic as well, starting with Rocky Mountain Oysters, Buffalo Empanadas, Bison Eggs, and an array of Mountain Man boudins (sausages) made from Antelope, Rattlesnake, Rabbit, and buffalo.

   Also, a real delicacy, they have roasted Bison Marrow Bones. I'm not sure you'd find this on the menu any place else.  

   Main courses include buffalo served many styles, as well as beef, antelope, duck, elk, quail---with gluten free and vegetarian selections also available. 

 

                                              The IMM in Vail, Co. 

 Years ago, I had the joyful opportunity of eating at the fort with the group to which we belonged, The Independent Mountain Men. We came dressed in period costume and had a magical evening, truly a step back in time. 

   The Fort Restaurant is keeping history alive. They have wonderful cultural events, live music, and murder mystery dinners.    

 https://www.thefort.com/the-history-of-the-fort/

For obvious reasons, my book Trapper's Moon, winner of the Reader's Choice award from Still Moments Magazine, is close to my heart. 

Blurb: 

  As a free trapper, mountain man Kade McCauley is wary of the Hudson Bay Company. Their form of vengeance against those who are not part of the company can be deadly. When he and his partner are attacked, he fights back, only to discover one of his shots struck an innocent. A woman who touches his soul, and he will do anything to keep her safe. 

   While searching for her Native American tribe, Blind Deer crosses paths with Kade—with near fatal results. Once she is patched up, she decides it is safer to travel with him than alone Their uneasy alliance turns to genuine caring, but Blind Deer's past gets in the way, and she must choose between her new love or her old obligations. 

   But nothing in life is carved in stone except the mountains, and those formidable peaks have been known to change the course of a man's life or a woman's.

              

 

My Mountain Man. .

 

My Stories: 

Western Romance: Break Heart Canyon * Undercover Outlaw * Cowboys, Cattle and Cutthroats * A Cowboy’s Fate*Special Delivery. 

Contemporary Romantic Thriller: Fatal Recall

Medieval Romance: The Dragon and The Rose * Iron Heart        *Promise Me Christmas. 

Victorian Romance: Lady Gallant * Victorian Dream 

Fantasy: The Fae Warriors Trilogy: Solace * Bliss * Portence 

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The cowboy's second favorite drink.

 Cowboys usually asked for whiskey when they bellied up to the bar, but tequila came in a close second. It became popular after the 1840's, especially in the South West area.

 Last summer, the Berthoud Conservation Gardens had a special plant blooming, the Parry's Agave.      

                               Each flowering plant has a giant stalk up to 20 feet tall, with 20 to 30 side branches. Each side branch produces hundreds of flowers.                            Often called century plants, agaves live many years before flowering, after which they sadly die. This succulent (not really a cacti) has been a source of human food and beverage for at least 9,000 years. 

                             
 When an agave’s central bud is removed, the cavity fills with fluid. This nutritious juice is called aguamiel (honey water). When aguamiel is allowed to ferment it becomes an alcoholic beverage called pulque. The Aztecs fermented pulque from 1000 B.C. to 200 A.D.. 

                                    

When pulque is distilled it becomes mescal. But while all tequilas are technically mezcals, but not all mezcals are tequilas. Tequila is a high quality mescal produced only from the blue agave plant and grown only in limited regions of Mexico.  

Sugars concentrate in the core of an agave just before flowering. If the leaves are trimmed away, the core can be baked or roasted. Native Americans of many Southwestern tribes pit-roasted agaves in an elaborate process that took three or four days of cooking!

 Chunks of roasted agave were chewed and the tough fibers discarded. Roasted agave could also be pounded into cakes and dried for later use.

Agave leaves have strong fibers good for many uses. Sisal fiber derived from Agave sisalana is grown worldwide and used for inexpensive twine, rope, paper, fabric, filters, mattresses, and carpets.

******************************************************

  Around 1936, in Tijuana, Irishman called Madden, was known around the area for his Tequila Daisy. Though Madden admitted that the creation of the drink was a lucky mistake, it’s become one of the most celebrated in the U.S. (margarita in Spanish means daisy).

In 1974 the Mexican government declared the term tequila, intellectual property. This made it necessary for tequila to be made and aged in certain areas of Mexico, and it also made it illegal for other countries to produce or sell their own “tequila. 

"Hey, Waiter. What's that worm doing in my drink? And please don't say the backstroke."

   In the 1950's, when a mezcal maker discovered a moth larvae in a batch of his liquor, he decided the stowaway improved its taste. Since then, he started adding “worms” to all his bottles as a marketing strategy. The larva is usually either a red worm or a maguey worm. The red worm is typically considered tastier.

               

This weekend, why not sip a Sunrise or Margarita 

                                and get lost in a good western story!  

           

 My Stories: 

Western Romance: Break Heart Canyon * Undercover Outlaw * Cowboys, Cattle and Cutthroats * A Cowboy’s Fate*Special Delivery. 

Contemporary Romantic Thriller: Fatal Recall

Medieval Romance: The Dragon and The Rose * Iron Heart        *Promise Me Christmas. 

Victorian Romance: Lady Gallant * Victorian Dream 

Fantasy: The Fae Warriors Trilogy: Solace * Bliss * Portence 

Blog   www.ginirifkin.blogspot.com

Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/people/Gini-Rifkin-Author/100001680213365

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Tartan Day 2025

                              
A beautiful day, with perfect weather for the annual Tartan Day celebration in Longmont, Colorado. 

So fun, and so thankful to spend time with my sister. There were more tents this year, which equals more temptations for buying, and more lasses in gorgeous gowns and more handsome laddies in kilts!  

           Mary Queen of Scots granted us an audience. 

  Mary Queen of Scots of the Highland Rockies

              Our favorite faerie, Lemon Drop, came by creating magical bubbles which everyone, young and old, enjoyed. 

                      The Scottie dog rescue folks were on hand.

   I had to buy a little dragon  at the mountain mini shop.  A creative store that uses recycle material in a 3-D printer. 

Darla and Mark from Warp and Woolens demonstrated drop spindle spinning, floor loom weaving, and bobbin lace making. The lace was spectacular--what an underappreciated and nearly lost art. 

A lively parade had us all cheering, and a group photo rounded out the afternoon. 

Had so much fun, and then we went for ice cream, and a little thrift store shopping. A wonderful way to spend a Saturday.