Things To Learn From
The Life and Crimes of Alferd Packer

by Wild Willie Westwood, with the sources listed below

Preston Nutter PRESTON NUTTER MADE UTAH THE HOME OF HIS CATTLE KINGDOM PRESTON NUTTER In 1873 Nutter heard news of rich gold strike in Colorado Territory's San Juan Mountain District. He headed out and met 19 other prospectors in Provo, Utah. Winter was approaching and the group would have turned back except for the urging of one Alfred Packer. He convinced the group that he was familiar with the area. Shortly outside Provo it was evident that Packer was lost (this is shown in the movie), and also a "whining fraud." Preston served as scout until they reached the Ute Indian Reservation. Chief Ouray advised the group to stay with him along lower elevations and predicted dire consequences. Packer convinced some that Ouray only wanted their money and five of the group left with him. Nutter decided to spend the winter with Chief Ouray of the Utes and his wife Chipeta while Packer and some of the other men continued on into the ominous snow-packed mountains. The winter proved to be one of the worst on record. Preston arrived at the Los Pinos Agency, Colorado Territory, in the spring at about the time Packer arrived alone, looking fat, well, and contented. Packer had lots of money, and his story about the fate of his companions did not sound right. Nutter, suspecting that something was amiss, soon discovered that Packer had eaten his five companions while trapped in a bad snowstorm. He forced Packer to return to the San Juans to look for the other men and Packer led him on a "wild goose chase." When the snow had melted in the summer, the remains of the five men were found. In 1883 Packer was brought to trial at Lake City, Colorado, and Nutter was the prosecution's chief witness during the trial of "Alfred Packer the Man-Eater" whose notoriety spread throughout the West. He went on to form the Grand Cattle Company with his partners Ed Sands and Tom Wheeler and became a Utah cattle king.

A Comparison of the Confessions the parts that appear in the movie will be in blue
Confessions	Los Pinos Confesson	1873 Confession	1873 Confession as recoreded by Herman Lauter (or Lueders)	1883 Confession	1897 Confession
Dates	April 1874	5/8/1874	3/23/1883	3/16/1883	8/7/1897
The Order of Death	When not more than fifty miles for Los Pinos, he said, he had been taken ill, and while in that condition he had been deserted by his companions, who left him no provisions but gave him a Winchester rifle with which to kill game if he discovered any.	Old man Swan died first and was eaten by the other five persons, about ten days out from camp.	One day Packer went out to gather dry wood for the fire, and when he returned he found that in his absence the first life had been sacrificed. Lying upon the ground, dead, was the oldest man in the party, Mr. Swan. His skull was fractured and his death had been instantaneous. Around him were congregated the four men remaining, besides himself, who were engaged in cutting up the body. Large pieces and strips were cut from the calves of the legs, thighs and breasts. Swan’s money amounting to several thousand dollars, was divided among the men.	When I came back to camp after being gone nearly all day I found the redheaded man [Bell] who acted crazy in the morning sitting near the fire roasting a piece of meat which he had cut out of the leg of the german butcher [Miller] the latters body was lying the furthest off from the fire down the stream, his skull was crushed in with the hatchet. The other three men were lying near the fire, they were cut in the forehead with the hatchet. Some had two, some three, cuts. I came within a rod of the fire.	As I neared the camp on my return I was confronted by a terrible sight. As I came near I saw no one but Bell. I spoke to him, and then, with the look of a terrible maniac, his eyes glaring and burning fearfully, he grabbed a hatchet and started for me, whereupon I raised my Winchester and shot him. The report from the rifle did not arouse the camp, so I hastened to the campfire and found my comrades dead. In looking about I saw a piece of flesh on the fire, which Bell had cut from Miller's leg. I took this flesh from the fire and lay it to one side, after which I covered the bodies of my dead comrades. I remained here with them during the night.
		Four or five days afterwards Humphrey died and was also eaten. He had about one hundred and thirty three dollars. I found the pocket-book and took the money.	In two days the party was again out of food, and it was decided by three of the survivors that Miller, a young man, well built and stout, should be the next to go. Packer confessed that Miller was chosen because of the great amount of soft flesh he carried. Miller was killed with a hatchet while stooping for a stick of wood. His body was dissected and the best parts eaten.
		Some time afterwards while I was carrying wood, the Butcher [Miller] was killed, as the other two told me, accidentally, and he was eaten.	Humphreys and
		Bell shot "California" [Noon] with Swan's gun.	Noon followed in the same way, leaving only Packer and Bell. After living several days on roots, they reached a huge lake, which was skirted on one side by an extensive grove of hemlock trees.
		I killed Bell. I shot him, covered up the remains, and took a large piece along.	One day while camped in this grove, Bell arose, seized his rifle and exclaimed, “I can’t stand this any longer, one of us must make food for the other right here.” He clubbed his gun and endeavored to strike Packer. The latter always on the alert, parried the blow and the rifle was broken by striking a tree. Packer then struck Bell with a hatchet and killed him. He was alone, and had no fear of death except by starvation. Cutting up the body of his companion, he ate as much as he could then packed away considerable of the flesh about him for future use.	When the man saw me, he got up with his hatchet towards me. When I shot him sideways through the belly, he fell on his face and the hatchet fell forwards. I grabbed it and hit him in the top of the head.
	He regained his health and started for Los Pinos where he arrived after several days of weary tramping, his only food being roots and a rabbits which he had killed.	I then traveled fourteen days into the "Agency." Bell wanted to kill me. He struck at me with his rifle, struck a tree and broke his gun.	He resumed his tramp, the sole survivor of a party of six, and in time from the top of a hill, he espied the buildings of the Los Pinos agency close at hand. He threw away the human flesh he still had and arrived at the agency safe and sound. He acknowledged that he had grown quite fond of human flesh, and coolly said that he found the breasts of men the sweetest meat he had ever tasted.	I camped that night at the fire and sat up all night. The next morning I followed my tracks up the mountain but I could not make it. The snow was too deep and I came back. I went sideways into a piece of pine timber, set up two sticks, and covered it with pine boughs and then made a shelter about three feet high. This was my camp until I came out. I went back to the fire, covered the men up and fetched to the camp the piece of meat that was near the fire. I made a new fire near my camp and cooked the piece of meat and ate it. I tried to get away every day but could not, so I lived off the flesh of these men, the bigger part of the 60 days I was out. Then the snow began to have a crust and I started out up the creek to a place where a big slide seemed to come down the mountian of yellowish clay. The redheaded men had a 50 Dollar Bill in his pocket all the others together had only 20 Dollars. I had 20 Do llars myself. If there was any more money in the outfit, I did not know of it and it remains there. At the last camp just before I reached the Agency I ate my last pieces of meat This meat I cooked at the camp before I started out and put it in to a bag and carried the bag with me, I could not eat but a little at a time. When I went out with the party to search for the bodies, we came to the mountains overlooking the stream but I did not want to take them further. I did not want to go back to the camp myself. If I had stood in that vicinity longer I would have taken you [Mr. Adams] right to the place, but they advised me to go away [refusing to tell the names of the parties].	In the morning I moved about 1,000 yards below, where there was a grove of pine trees. Eventually the weather began to moderate and I wandered around seeking rose buds for food, when all of a sudden I was confronted by the Los Pinos agency. For three weeks I was taken care of at the agency. I have learned that Lutzenheiser and his party had crossed the mountains into Siwatch (Saguache). The remaining of the twenty-one men now at the end of this three weeks (10 men) came through with a band of Indians. They questioned me as to where my comrades were. I replied that I had killed Bell and that evidently he had killed the others. In a day or two we left the agency and started with the teams to go over to Siwatch. We remained in Siwatch until General Adams, the Indian agent, returned from Denver. I then explained to the general all I knew about my dead comrades, and an expedition was fitted out to return and bury them. We had not gone far on this journey before we were compelled to turn back to the agency, owing to the great depth of snow and the crust which was upon it.
		In this account, Swan's, Humphrey's, and Miller's bodies are eaten. Nothing is said of Noon's body. Lueder's account of the examination of the bodies verifies that Swan, Humphrey, and Miller were eaten, meaning Noon and Bell were not eaten, and thus were the two bodies still under blankets. Miller, being young and strong, would have put up the greatest struggle, which is also in Lueder's account. Swan, being the oldest, would indeed die first. Noon, being 16 years old at the time, would easily be under Bell's sway, so he went along with Bell, who said Miller died by accident.	In this account, Swan was killed when Packer was away gathering wood. Miller's body is eaten after lots are cast and he was killed. Humphrey is killed by lot and eaten as well. Packer says he took a gun with him after Swan asked him to look out over the mountains to see what he could see, but doesn't specify whose gun it is. Default assumption: he took his own gun.	This account says that Miller's body was the farthest away, so it is the headless one. Thus, Swan's and Humphrey's bodies were the two bodies without blankets and certain pieces of flesh, including breasts, thighs, and calves.	Here, Packer mentions the Winchester once again, the one he said his mates gave him for small game while they went off, the one the Lutzenheiser party said beloged to another man. It's been proved, though, that it was a Colt pistol that killed Bell, not a Winchester rifle.
What evidence showed up to make him change his story?	The incident of Packer’s arrival at the agency, and his story, was related to Lutzenheiser's men, five in all, who had left Ouray before Packer did. All of them discredited it. They were of the opinion that had he been sick, the men would not have deserted him. They at once suspected foul play and communicated their suspicions to General Adams. They said that the Winchester carried by Packer belonged to another man (Swan), and a pipe belonging to another of the party was also identified. General Adams at once mounted an officer and sent him to Saguache for Packer. The officer returned with his man and brought the information that Packer had spent several hundred dollars during his six weeks’ residence in Saguache, besides buying horses, etc. This information was communicated to the five men and convinced them that Packer was a murderer and robber, for it was known to them that he had but a small amount of money when he left Salt Lake. Packer told identically the same story to the men which he had told upon his first entry into the agency. A council of five men and officers of the agency, to settle the matter, was called. While it was in progress proceedings were interrupted by the entry of two very much excited Indians. The scene that followed was highly dramatic, sensational, and decidedly sickening as to detail. The Indians bore in their hands strips of flesh, which they termed “WHITE MAN’S MEAT.” They had been out hunting, they said, and had found the flesh not far from the agency, on a hill. It was in good condition, the white skin, which firmly adhered, convincing all present that it had been cut from a human being, apparently from the thigh. The strips were quite long and thin. When Packer caught sight of the flesh his face became livid, his breath came short, quick, and suddenly all strength left him, and with a low moan he sank to the floor. He weakened, and after begging for mercy promised to make a full confession. Liquors were applied, and he was revived sufficiently to speak fluently.		The bodies were finally found in June by a photographer named Reynolds from Peoria, Illinois, in the employ of the Harper Brothers, while sketching along Lake San Cristobal near the present town of Lake City. He came across the remains of the five men lying in a grove of hemlocks. The spot was the same described by Packer as the place where Bell met his death. An examination showed that all five had been assassinated. Four of the bodies were laying together in a row, and the fifth was laying away a short distance with the head completely severed. Miller was badly mutilated. There were traces of a struggle about Miller, showing that the man had fought hard for his life. Miller was clubbed to death, the instrument used being a rifle, which was found nearby, broken in two. The four men lying together were undoubtedly asleep at the time. Blankets were found wrapped about two of them. Two men-those with blankets around them--were untouched. The breasts of two other men were cut away, leaving the ribs bare. The blankets were removed for the other two for obvious reasons. All had been killed for their money. Valuable articles and money which the men were known to possess had disappeared. An inspection of the bodies showed that Packer had actually been guilty of the revolting crime. CANNIBALISM. About one hundred yards from where the bodies were found, and just outside the grove, a brush cabin was discovered. A beaten path led from the cabin to the spot where the bodies were found. In the cabin were found blankets and other things belonging to the dead men. Holes made by rifle balls were found in the heads of Swan and Humphreys (the two exposed), and Bell and Noon (the two under the blankets). A contrasting report from a Civil War veteran who visited the crime scene stated that Shannon Bell had been shot twice and the other victims were killed with a hatchet. This means Bell didn't shoot anyone, either, but used the hatchet to kill them. Packer says as much in the 1883 confession.