On this day in 1874, were spoken some of the most intriguing words in American jurisprudence. In the late fall of the preceding year, a trail guide named Alferd (his spelling....not ours) Packer had led a party of twenty men into the San Juan Mountains. Ignoring warnings and early snows, Packer pushed his party onward. Little was heard of the party for several months until Packer returned, alone, saying the party had abandoned him. When spring set in, however, the bulk of the party was found in the hills, the apparent victims of cannibalism. At his trial Packer claimed that eating human flesh was the only means of survival in the frigid circumstances. The jury was unsympathetic and found him guilty. The judge was outright hostile and sentenced him to 40 years of hard labor. And, as he left the courtroom, the judge shouted after him - "Packer, you depraved Republican son of a bitch, there was only seven Democrats in Hinsdale County ..... and you ate five of them." History does not record whether that particular judge lost the next election by four or more votes. And, if you want to learn more about this tale, just drop by the student snack area at the University of Colorado. It's called the "Alferd A. Packer Memorial Grill."
If I hadn't lived in Denver for as long as I did, I would never have known this. I was going to add the factoid regarding the Alferd Packer Grill, but you beat me to it.
On this day in 1874, were spoken some of the most intriguing words in American
jurisprudence.
In the late fall of the preceding year, a trail guide named Alferd (his spelling....not
ours) Packer had led a party of twenty men into the San Juan Mountains. Ignoring
warnings and early snows, Packer pushed his party onward.
Little was heard of the party for several months until Packer returned, alone, saying
the party had abandoned him. When spring set in, however, the bulk of the party
was found in the hills, the apparent victims of cannibalism.
At his trial Packer claimed that eating human flesh was the only means of survival in
the frigid circumstances. The jury was unsympathetic and found him guilty. The
judge was outright hostile and sentenced him to 40 years of hard labor.
And, as he left the courtroom, the judge shouted after him - "Packer, you depraved
Republican son of a bitch, there was only seven Democrats in Hinsdale County .....
and you ate five of them."
History does not record whether that particular judge lost the next election by four or
more votes. And, if you want to learn more about this tale, just drop by the student
snack area at the University of Colorado. It's called the "Alferd A. Packer Memorial
Grill."
Location: Still in the tunnel, looking for the light. Gender:
Posted:
May 18, 2013 - 2:17pm
Alexandra wrote:
33 years ago today, not too far from where I am now....
It's interesting to talk to people who lived here then, and how the whole region looked for days afterward with the ash and smoke and dark cloud hanging over.
Mt St Helens was one of my highlights of our trip last year, we went up to the eastern rim and had a great lecture from a Ranger. We had a chat and got talking about the guy who took those four famous 'photo's and survived to tell the tale.
Apparently he hangs out at the Rangers lodge a mile or two back down from the rim, and is always keen to chat. Sadly poor Nancy developed a nasty heat rash so we couldn't stop to say hello, which was a shame as seeing those pictures in the National Geographic all those years ago helped fuel my love of geography and geology.
This was from the edge of the area affected by the blast, with trees killed by the heat of the pyroclastic flow, but left standing - seventeen miles from the crater:
Location: No longer in a hovel in effluent Damnville, VA Gender:
Posted:
May 18, 2013 - 1:24pm
I bought a '59 Rambler Station Wagon that had been near the eruption. Every nook and cranny of that car was crammed with ash and small pieces of pumice. It even got into places that were pretty well sealed.
The math doesn't look right, but I remember it very well. I had to travel a couple of day later and my normal routes were closed.
I've ridden up there several times since. This is how it looks up there now.
The only time I actually went up there was in 1999 and I was really impressed with how much of Yellowstone had come back a decade after the fires and how desolate that place was nearly twenty years on. Might as well change the avatar too.
23 years ago today, not too far from where I am now....
It's interesting to talk to people who lived here then, and how the whole region looked for days afterward with the ash and smoke and dark cloud hanging over.
The math doesn't look right, but I remember it very well. I had to travel a couple of day later and my normal routes were closed.
I've ridden up there several times since. This is how it looks up there now.
