While Colorado today is a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts from around the country, the state was once untamed American frontier. Attracting countless miners and prospectors in search of making big bucks, the state’s booming populations thrust flatlanders into relatively uncharted high-altitude terrain without much of a safety net. A man named Alferd Packer discovered this the hard way when he set out on an expedition in 1874 and soon realized that he had bit off more than he could chew.

Author’s Note: During the research for this article, we did find small pieces of the story that didn’t make sense or that contradicted each other across sources. Because much of this story has been passed down from generation to generation, things seem to get a bit blurry here and there. This piece represents the tale of which we could find the congruent most support.

RELATED: Colorado’s Frozen Dead Guy!

It all started in 1873, when Pennsylvania-born Alferd Packer joined a party of 21 men traveling from Provo, Utah to Breckenridge, Colorado, a town in an area then known for its overfilled gold mines. In late January, the troop was forced to put their expedition on pause after an encounter with Chief Ouray near Montrose convinced most of the party that dangerous winter storms on the way weren’t worth the risk. Chief Ouray offered the group of travelers a spot amongst their tribe until winter passed, and they accepted.

However, come mid-February, Alferd Packer, along with five other men in the group, grew restless. They decided to set out to finish their journey against the advice of Chief Ouray, knowing that if they made it to Breckenridge sooner, they’d have a better chance at finding more gold.

RELATED: 8 Trunk Items To Help You Survive Winter Driving!

It wasn’t until April 16th, two months after he left Chief Ouray’s tribe, that a weary Alferd Packer arrived at the Los Pinos Indian Agency in the Gunnison area, far from his original destination of Breckenridge. He was alone.

It was here that he encountered a man from his original party that left from Utah. When asked where his traveling companions were, Alferd Packer claimed that he had a medical issue due to the extreme weather encountered during the trip that forced the five men he was once with to abandon him. An exhausted Packer said he wanted to return to Pennsylvania, embarking on a trip to Saguache, Colorado, a supply depot. The man that  he encountered at the Indian Agency from his original Utah party along with two others joined him for assistance.

Here’s when the holes in Packer’s story started to come to light. First, one of the men headed to Saguache recognized a skinning knife that belonged to someone Packer had said abandoned him during his attempt to reach Breckenridge. If the man had left Packer behind, why would Packer have his knife? Secondly, Packer was blowing quite a bit of money during the trip and upon their arrival to Saguache, even offered to lend a stranger $300, close to $6,000 today adjusted for inflation. Packer had previously claimed he was so broke that he was forced to sell his rifle…so where did all the money come from?

RELATED: Colorado’s Wildest Mining Town!

His traveling partners accused him of murder and theft with the threat of hanging. It was then that they got the full story from Packer:

After leaving Chief Ouray’s tribe, the group encountered severe weather. Within 10 days, one of the party members was already dead. In need of as much sustenance as they could get, the other five members of the group, including Packer, decided to eat him. A few days later, another party member died. Packer was the first to search his body, pocketing over $100 found on the body. Packer then claimed that another party member died, though he wasn’t there to witness his death or the cannibalization that followed because he suspected foul play. With three men now left in the party and times getting even harder than before, sanity continued to disintegrate amongst the group. One of the starving members shot and killed the only other remaining member (besides Packer), which led Packer to kill the offending murderer to save himself.

Now the only remaining member of the six-person party, Packer set off on his own, carrying a piece of his kill with him. For 14 days, Packer wandered by himself until he finally found the Indian Agency, opting to change his story to something that would frame him in a more favorable light.

RELATED: The Haunted Tunnels of Gold Camp Road!

Packer’s accusers wanted him to lead a group to the campsite in his story in search of remains in order to prove himself. Packer was unable to do so, eventually attacking one of the accusers. As a result, Packer was jailed in Saguache, only to escape a short time later.

It wasn’t until 1883 that Packer was discovered in Cheyenne, Wyoming, living under an alias. When he was arrested this time around, Packer changed his story, saying that one of the party members murdered the rest of the group while he was away from the campsite, forcing him to kill the murderer upon his return in self-defense. A trial was held in Lake City, Colorado, and Packer was sentenced to hanging for premeditated murder.

The story doesn’t stop there. Packer fought his case and was given a retrial in 1886 in Gunnison. This time around, his conviction was downgraded to five counts of manslaughter, each carrying an eight-year sentence. Packer didn’t serve his full time though and paroled in 1901 to became a guard for the Denver Post. He eventually died in Deer Creek in 1907 and was buried in Littleton.

More recent investigations have been difficult due to the amount of time between the murders even with today’s forensic tools.Some evidence has been said to show that Packer’s second story might actually have some truth to it. A bullet found in the final remaining party member aside from Packer is said to match Packer’s gun, while the other members were killed with a different weapon, most likely a hatchet. So, what really happened to Alferd Packer’s Breckenridge-set? There’s a good chance we’ll probably never know the full story.