1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of iHeartRadio and 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:16,240 Speaker 1: Grimm and Mild from Aar and Manky. 3 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:24,159 Speaker 2: Humans have always explored. We've gone to the depths of 4 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 2: the ocean and the reaches of space. It's brought us 5 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 2: to new lands or new to us and into contact 6 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 2: with all different kinds of life, and that contact with 7 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 2: the other, the unfamiliar has often seemed scary. Just take 8 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 2: a look at old maps drawn up by Western European 9 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 2: travelers as ships began to sail around the world. The 10 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,160 Speaker 2: sailors brought home fantastic stories that were almost too big 11 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 2: to believe. They talked about monsters, and about savages, and 12 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 2: often about cannibals. The term was coined by none other 13 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 2: than Christopher Columbus. He wrote in his diaries about his 14 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 2: alleged encounters with them, describing cannibals as a dog headed 15 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 2: men who ate human beings. Amerigo Vespucci did the same 16 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 2: during his explorations of the continents that now bear a 17 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 2: derivation of his name, and when Queen Isabella of Spain 18 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 2: legalized the enslavement of Native Americans in fifteen oh three, 19 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,479 Speaker 2: she did so by alleging that they were cannibals too. 20 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 2: What's true is that many cultures have participated in cannibalism 21 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 2: long before records existed. We have evidence stretching back over 22 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 2: one hundred thousand years that tells us as much. Today, 23 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,479 Speaker 2: the idea of eating a loved one or enemy might 24 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 2: give you the itck like nothing else, But we have 25 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 2: to understand that not all cannibalism was created equal across 26 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 2: the world. Endo cannibalism has been a grief practice in 27 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 2: which one's community consumed parts of their body. Rather than 28 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 2: an act of destruction, it was a profound celebration of 29 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,919 Speaker 2: a life in which the dead carried on in the living. 30 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 2: Exocannibalism is the act of eating those outside of one's community. 31 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 2: This flavor of consumption, if you'll forgive the pun, was 32 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 2: also marked by community ritual. Seldom was anyone eating someone 33 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 2: else without a lot of care. It's very easy to 34 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 2: point fingers at people who aren't us, to say, but 35 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 2: we aren't like them. But where do you draw the 36 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 2: line and how do you decide what's monstrous? What Queen 37 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 2: Isabella and her ilk failed to acknowledge was the widely 38 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 2: accepted practice of medicinal cannibalism in Europe, it leaned on 39 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 2: the beliefs of sympathetic magic, or that like serves like. 40 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 2: For example, drinking from a human skull was said to 41 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 2: help with headaches, blood was said to help with bleeding. 42 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 2: Rendered human fat had a number of uses. Executed bodies 43 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 2: were the most highly prized, as it was believed that 44 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 2: a quick traumatic death gave no time for a life 45 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 2: force to slowly seep away. The hypocrisy is glaring. When 46 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 2: colonists came to the New World, they were regaled with 47 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 2: tales of indigenous cannibals. Cannibalism was practiced in some Native 48 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 2: American societies, particularly in some groups in the North and West, 49 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,799 Speaker 2: but for many it was never simply to fill their 50 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 2: bellies in a stroke of irony. It was likely the 51 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 2: English settlers who became the first gastronomic cannibals in that 52 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 2: part of the world. The winter of sixteen oh nine 53 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 2: to sixteen ten in Jamestown, Virginia has been remembered as 54 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 2: the Starving Time. A seven year drought, fractured leadership, and 55 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 2: a siege by Powaton warriors had created a fatal predicament 56 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 2: for the colony. In that period, about three quarters of 57 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 2: Jamestown ended up starving to death. Of the sixty or 58 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 2: so settlers who remained, they scraped by on whatever they 59 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 2: could find, including the flesh of their recent debt. Archaeological 60 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 2: evidence of these years was discovered as recently as twenty thirteen, 61 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 2: when human bones bearing the marks of butchering were discovered 62 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 2: in a trash pit. It was one of many pits 63 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 2: and one of many bodies that have been found at 64 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 2: the site. America has long been a land of cannibals, 65 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 2: but that distinction has never really belonged to one group. 66 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 2: Despite what European colonists thought about themselves, they were certainly 67 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 2: not above cannibalizing their peers, as the incident in Jamestown 68 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 2: proves to us. So what really separates the monstrous from 69 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 2: the rest of us? If anything at all? I'm Lorn Vogelbaum, 70 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 2: Welcome to American shadows. The promise of hidden riches sang 71 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 2: like a siren, and hungry prospectors came from all over 72 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 2: to heed its call. In November of eighteen seventy three, 73 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 2: a party of twenty one men left Utah to search 74 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 2: for silver in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. In 75 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,600 Speaker 2: this group was the thirty one year old Pennsylvania born 76 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 2: drifter named Alfred Packer. He was a curious man, this Alfred. 77 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 2: He was a little bit odd. It was hard to 78 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 2: know who he really was. He prided himself on being 79 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 2: a great entertainer, but his tall tales often fell short 80 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 2: of convincing. He had a way of contradicting himself and 81 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 2: just seemed to try a little too hard to sell himself, 82 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,799 Speaker 2: often alterating important details about his life in the process. 83 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 2: What we also do know as fact is that he 84 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 2: was discharged from the Civil War on the account of 85 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 2: being a severe epileptic, experiencing bouts of seizure as many 86 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 2: as three times every forty eight hours, and he had 87 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,040 Speaker 2: worked all sorts of odd jobs, but it's likely it 88 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:01,919 Speaker 2: was hard for him to hold anything down for a 89 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 2: significant period of time. Taking bromide seemed to help his condition, 90 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 2: but they weren't totally curative. This was a part of 91 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 2: the story he was always sure to leave out. Packer 92 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 2: had volunteered to lead the silver hunting party. He set 93 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 2: off with confidence with twenty men in tow into the 94 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 2: dense forests and jagged mountains of Colorado. There actually wasn't 95 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 2: even a set path to their destination. Any expedition to 96 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 2: that part of the country was sure to be a 97 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 2: treacherous one, and it was imperative that the guide knew 98 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,280 Speaker 2: the land well. What his team didn't know was that 99 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:41,359 Speaker 2: Alfred wasn't the expert on the Colorado Mountains that he 100 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 2: claimed to be. Even so, the first part of their 101 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 2: trip was fairly smooth. Spirits were high, folks were filled 102 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 2: with hope. They had big dreams about what they'd find 103 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 2: in the mountains and what they'd do with it all 104 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 2: once they got home. But it wasn't long before things 105 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 2: began to unravel. Into their journey, Packer had an epileptic 106 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 2: episode and fell into the campfire. He was saved by 107 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 2: a companion, but when he came to he brushed it off, 108 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 2: claiming it was the first seizure he had ever experienced. 109 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 2: But he soon began to have seizures several times a day, 110 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 2: and the other travelers began to suspect that he was 111 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 2: lying to them. It soon became clear that there were 112 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 2: other things that Packer couldn't hear himself of. He was 113 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 2: outed as an habitual petty thief. He was also quarrelsome 114 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 2: whiny and apparently greedy with rations. He was said to 115 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 2: be surly and bragged about a jail stint he served 116 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 2: after buying the services of frontier sex workers. But Packer 117 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 2: was no dummy. He knew his party had grown to 118 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 2: disdain him, and he felt the same right back. He 119 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 2: called this a cordial hatred and was happy to continue on. 120 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 2: Others didn't share that feeling. By the time they crossed 121 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 2: the Green River, about eighty five miles from the Colorado border, 122 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 2: the party had come to the mounting realization that Packer 123 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 2: had been lying to them about knowing where he was headed. 124 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 2: Horror and rage gripped the men. All of the other 125 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 2: issues they could live with, this they quite literally could not. 126 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 2: On January twenty fifth of eighteen forty seven, the party 127 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 2: was surrounded by a group of Ute warriors as they 128 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 2: approached the Colorado border. The party was on reservation land, 129 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 2: and one account tells that the Ute took pity on 130 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:34,199 Speaker 2: the sorry, hungry prospectors in front of them. Chief Urray, 131 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 2: who was present that day, offered to take the men in. 132 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 2: He warned them not to continue and offered them his 133 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 2: hospitality until the spring thaw came. For a few weeks. 134 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 2: The party stayed with the ute, but they soon grew 135 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 2: Antsy worried that the riches would be gone if they 136 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 2: waited until spring to set out again. They calculated that 137 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 2: they only had forty more miles to go. On February second, 138 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 2: five men broke from the park. Alfred tried to join them, 139 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 2: but was threatened with a gun. He would get his 140 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 2: chance a week later, when five other prospectors decided to 141 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 2: leave the Ute encampment. Chief Yurey told them not to go, 142 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 2: and that he wouldn't even allow for his own people 143 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 2: to try. But the prospectors refused his advice, and Urrey 144 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 2: reluctantly drew them a map in the snow. He illustrated 145 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 2: two trails over the mountains, a lower trail which was 146 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 2: eighty miles long, and an upper trail, which was only 147 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 2: forty miles. The party set out for the upper trail 148 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 2: in the dead of winter, without a single snowshoe in sight. 149 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 2: Two and a half months later, on the morning of 150 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 2: April sixteenth, Alfred Packer wandered out of the mountains and 151 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 2: into the Las Pignos Indian Agency. He was alone, with 152 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 2: none of his companions anywhere to be found. The winters 153 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 2: in the San Juan Mountains are long, dark and harsh. 154 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 2: The peaks are impassable and inhospitable, which are both very 155 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 2: bad things if you find yourself stranded among them. By 156 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 2: some stroke of luck that felt nothing short of divine intervention, 157 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 2: Alfred Packer had made his way out of the mountains 158 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 2: with just a backpack and a rifle. He was ragged 159 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 2: and ravaged, but otherwise appeared to be in good health. 160 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 2: He'd endured temperatures down to negative fifty degrees fahrenheit in 161 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 2: the wild for over fifty seven days, and people were 162 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:37,959 Speaker 2: simply impressed. His party was lost. Packer told the folks 163 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,679 Speaker 2: at the agency, Oh, this surprised no one. What did 164 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 2: surprise them, though, was that he didn't appear to be hungry. 165 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 2: In fact, he looked rather well fed. According to one story, 166 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 2: rather than scarfing down a breakfast upon arrival, he opted 167 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 2: to throw back a few shots of whiskey instead. It's 168 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 2: then that a story began to come now. He claimed 169 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 2: that soon after he and the other men left Chief 170 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 2: Uray's encampment, he began to suffer from frostbitten feet and 171 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 2: snow blindness. His traveling companions elected to leave him behind 172 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 2: with a rifle and supplies. Where they ended up, Packer said, well, 173 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 2: he could only assume that they had died from the 174 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,440 Speaker 2: cold themselves. But as fate would have it, Parker wasn't 175 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 2: the only one who showed up at the agency that day. 176 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 2: A Preston Nutter, a doctor Cooper, and a fellow by 177 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 2: the name of Italian Tom, all members of the crew 178 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 2: who stayed behind at the ute camp, appeared just hours 179 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 2: after Alfred did. This did not please him. In fact, 180 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 2: Parker grew visibly upset at their arrival. Nutter asked where 181 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 2: the rest of his party was, and Packer repeated his story. 182 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,200 Speaker 2: Packer began to move quickly. He started talking about returning 183 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 2: home to Pennsylvania and sold his Winchester rifle for ten dollars. 184 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 2: He and three other men to hit the road and 185 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,319 Speaker 2: head to the nearby town of Swatch. During their trek, 186 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,319 Speaker 2: Nutter poked at Packer. He had long been suspicious of him, 187 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 2: and the intervening months apart did nothing to change that. 188 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 2: Why he asked Parker did he have the knife that 189 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 2: had belonged to Frank, one of their lost prospectors, and 190 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 2: Packer quickly said that Frank stuck it in a tree 191 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 2: and left it there, which of course made no sense. 192 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 2: Once they arrived in Sewatch, Packer aroused even more suspicion. 193 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 2: For a guy who was constantly broke, he seemed to 194 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 2: have suddenly, somehow come into some serious money. He ended 195 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 2: up spending almost two thousand dollars in today's money at 196 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 2: a local saloon over a two week period. With every 197 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 2: passing alcohol soaked night, Packer's story got more dramatic and 198 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:53,840 Speaker 2: more unbelievable. The inconsistencies were glaring, and the looks began 199 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 2: to fly. But Packer wasn't wholly oblivious. He noticed that 200 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 2: his companion were growing uneasy as soon he began to 201 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,959 Speaker 2: make plans to depart to Watch, but once again timing 202 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 2: was not on Packer's side. As he prepared to leave, 203 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 2: he ran into the general of the Las Pignots Agency, 204 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 2: a fellow by the name of General Charles Adams, And 205 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 2: even if he wasn't completely oblivious, he also couldn't resist 206 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 2: sharing his story again, so he sat down for breakfast 207 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 2: with the general's wife and told her all about his 208 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 2: time in the mountains. While his wife was occupied. General 209 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,080 Speaker 2: Adams took it upon himself to do some digging. He 210 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 2: was quickly informed about the suspicious Packer and soon formed 211 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 2: a plan of his own. General Adams decided that a 212 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 2: party would be formed to go search for Packer's men, 213 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 2: and Packer, it was decided, would be their paid guide. 214 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,280 Speaker 2: What Alfred Packer, General Adams and all the men in 215 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 2: Sewatch didn't know was that at that very moment, more 216 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 2: men from Packer's original party were arriving at the Las 217 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:06,400 Speaker 2: Pinos agency. When General Adams and Packer returned, these prospectors 218 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 2: did not give their former guide a warm welcome. Instead, 219 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 2: it ended up being an interrogation. They wanted to know 220 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 2: what really happened up in those mountains. It didn't take 221 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 2: long for Packer to crack. He broke down, it suffered 222 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 2: a short seizure, and then confessed the journey was harder 223 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 2: than they thought. He admitted that they had been foolhardy, 224 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 2: and over confident. The conditions were unlivable, with snow above 225 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 2: their head for miles at some points. Soon they began 226 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 2: to run out of food, so they began to forage, 227 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 2: but that was no good. They grew hungry enough to 228 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 2: start eating their leather shoes and then one by one 229 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 2: they died. The first to go was old man Swan. 230 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 2: They decided to eat him right then and there. The 231 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 2: survivors ate their dead as they each slowly perished through 232 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 2: their journey, and when they were down to two men, 233 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 2: Packer and a man called Bell, they made a pact 234 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 2: to not kill and eat the other. But Bell eventually 235 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 2: went back on his word and came at Parker with 236 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 2: the butt of his broken rifle. So Packer did the 237 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 2: only logical thing, he shot Bell dead. While General Adams 238 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 2: may have believed Packer's tale, the other men present didn't. 239 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,760 Speaker 2: They knew and respected Bell and doubted he would have 240 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 2: gone back on his word. The General determined that if 241 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 2: Packer's story was true, a Bell's body would be lying 242 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 2: with his broken rifle, and if that's what was found, 243 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 2: Packer would be set free and sent home to Pennsylvania, 244 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 2: all expenses paid. So they all set off. Packer quickly 245 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 2: became disoriented. Once he was back on the trail, he 246 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 2: was lost and wouldn't be able to lead them to Bell. 247 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 2: Perhaps this was disingenuous, of course, he didn't want to 248 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 2: be caught, But don't forget that he actually wasn't a 249 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 2: wilderness guide. He didn't have a very good idea of 250 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 2: where he was going, and probably where he had gone 251 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 2: to begin with. But Parker was taken into custody and 252 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 2: installed in the cabin of the Swatch County sheriff for 253 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 2: the summer. Three months later, an illustrator from Harper's Weekly 254 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 2: stumbled across the mutilated remains of five men near the 255 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 2: Gunnison River. Their bodies were all laid within a few 256 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,000 Speaker 2: feet of each other, covered in blankets and clothes, and 257 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 2: badly decayed. All bodies showed bullet holes and all had 258 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 2: flesh cut from bone. The one man's skull was crushed 259 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 2: and another's was separated from its body. They were also 260 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 2: missing all valuable assets cash included, of course. Finding the 261 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 2: remains of all bodies together completely invalidated. Packers claimed that 262 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 2: they had all died slowly over time. The artists drew 263 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 2: a sketch and brought it to the local authorities. They 264 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 2: quickly set off to the mountains to corroborate the story. 265 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 2: After the authorities buried the remains of Packer's victims, the 266 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 2: team returned to the jail to confront him. However, the 267 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 2: cabin was empty. Packer had escaped, Alfred Packer took to 268 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,399 Speaker 2: the road again. It was easy to be anonymous in 269 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 2: those days. For the better part of a decade, Packer 270 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:24,919 Speaker 2: stayed out of the hands of the law. He had 271 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 2: gotten lucky. Though his digs at the watch hadn't been 272 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,680 Speaker 2: so bad. He was still being held without any evidence 273 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 2: of wrongdoing. He maintained his innocence, and not everyone was 274 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 2: as quick to blame him. It would later be revealed 275 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 2: that two men not only helped Springham loose, but gave 276 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 2: him food for the journey. They were upset the town's 277 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,199 Speaker 2: resources were going to behold a man convicted of nothing, 278 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,880 Speaker 2: and so they quietly released him, and just days before 279 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 2: the bodies of Packer's party were discovered. His luck couldn't 280 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:58,240 Speaker 2: last forever, though, and he was recognized by a fellow 281 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 2: prospector in Cheyenne, Wyoming in eighteen eighty three. The man 282 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 2: wrote to General Adams, who made quick work of getting 283 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 2: to town. There he found an apprehended Packer taking him 284 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 2: down to Denver by train. A Packer tried to work 285 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 2: a deal. If General Adams could protect him from the 286 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 2: angry mob that surely awaited him back in Colorado, he 287 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,960 Speaker 2: would provide the real truth about what had taken place 288 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 2: in the mountains all those years ago. The men made 289 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,439 Speaker 2: an agreement. Flanked by a sheriff and a deputy, a 290 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 2: Packer made his confession. Packer claimed that his party fractured 291 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 2: one day when one of the men, Swan, sent Packer 292 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:39,880 Speaker 2: ahead to scout into the mountains in order to find 293 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 2: their way. A Packer claimed he was gone a whole day, 294 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 2: and on his return saw something wildly frightful. There sat 295 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 2: his companion Bell, hunched and wild eyed, over a fire 296 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:57,400 Speaker 2: and roasting a piece of meat. Four other men lay 297 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 2: dead around him, all in various states of mutilais. Some 298 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 2: were shot, and some were slashed, and some had hunks 299 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,120 Speaker 2: of flesh cut from their bones. It's then that Bell 300 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 2: jumped up and came for Packer, and reacting quickly, Packer 301 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 2: shot him in the stomach and then whacked him over 302 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 2: the head with a hatchet. Bell was dead, and now 303 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,440 Speaker 2: Packer was alone. He tried and tried again to get 304 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 2: out of camp, but the snow was impassable, so for 305 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:28,959 Speaker 2: sixty days he stayed, making fires and living off the 306 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 2: flesh of his companions. As the spring pain he grew 307 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,159 Speaker 2: hopeful who cooked the last of the meat, took what 308 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 2: he could and left the camp. This time he had 309 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,920 Speaker 2: make it out. His first confession. He told the men 310 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 2: was crazed and he couldn't be held responsible for what 311 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,479 Speaker 2: he had said. He had been through quite an ordeal, 312 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 2: and they had to understand. The news broke in papers 313 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 2: from the mountains to the sea. It was a sensational story, 314 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 2: and this man, after all, had just admitted to eating 315 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 2: his friend. There was certainly a pantalizing drama to that story, 316 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 2: but the question remained how much of it was true. 317 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 2: Many thought Packer killed his companions in cold blood. Swan's 318 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 2: family said that he had left home with six thousand 319 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:19,119 Speaker 2: dollars in cash and gold, which would have provided Packer 320 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,960 Speaker 2: with plenty of motivation for murder. Others suggested he had 321 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 2: knocked out members of his party with morphine, which he 322 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 2: had also used to treat his epilepsy, before killing them. 323 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 2: In their minds, he had this particular condition and used 324 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 2: it to aid in cold blooded murder. Packer's trial began 325 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 2: on April ninth of eighteen eighty three. He was only 326 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 2: charged with the murder of Swan. This was strategic for 327 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 2: the prosecution. Team and hopefully an easy sell to the jury, 328 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 2: and if he got off well, they could bring more 329 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 2: charges against him in the deaths of the other four men. 330 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:58,679 Speaker 2: For the first two days, men testified against him. On 331 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 2: the third day he took the stand. He told his 332 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,680 Speaker 2: story once again about finding Belle at a campfire, surrounded 333 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 2: by his dead companions. He admitted to taking their money, 334 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,359 Speaker 2: he admitted to eating them. He denied killing anyone. But 335 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:17,879 Speaker 2: bell Packer left the courthouse that day feeling confident in 336 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:21,400 Speaker 2: his performance. He looked forward to being a free man. 337 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 2: But even if he was telling the truth where it mattered, 338 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 2: he lied about other things on the stand, his age, 339 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:34,520 Speaker 2: his military service, his epilepsy. He just couldn't stop himself 340 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 2: from lying. He was convicted in the death of old 341 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 2: man Swan and sentenced to hang. But once this verdict 342 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 2: came down, his team petitioned since the crimes happened on 343 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 2: the Ute reservation, it was out of the state court's jurisdiction, 344 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,359 Speaker 2: and they were right legally on the grounds of territory, 345 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 2: Packer couldn't be charged with murder. They were also right 346 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 2: about something else. Murders took place. Colorado was not yet 347 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 2: a state that meant that they could not legally apply 348 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 2: the laws of the state to the crime which had 349 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,920 Speaker 2: been made after the crime occurred. There had been a 350 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 2: law allowing the state to prosecute murders that had happened 351 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 2: in the territory, but that law had since been repealed 352 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 2: and rewritten. Packer could not legally be tried for murder, 353 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 2: but he could still be tried from manslaughter the laws 354 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:30,439 Speaker 2: allowed for that. Packer won his rights to a second trial, 355 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 2: which took place in eighteen eighty six under the new 356 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 2: Colorado legislation. He was tried for a voluntary manslaughter of 357 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,199 Speaker 2: all five men instead of the murder of one. His 358 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,920 Speaker 2: second trial was almost identical to the first. The same 359 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,679 Speaker 2: witnesses appeared and the same evidence was presented. A verdict 360 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 2: was quickly reached. A Packer was guilty of killing his 361 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 2: companions and sentenced to forty years in prison, the longest 362 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:01,400 Speaker 2: custodial sentence in American history at that point. By all accounts, 363 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,119 Speaker 2: he was a model prisoner. It was even said that 364 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,400 Speaker 2: he used his pension to help the formerly incarcerated get 365 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 2: back on their feet. After sixteen years behind bars, he 366 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 2: petitioned for the fifth time to be paroled. His request 367 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,200 Speaker 2: was denied yet again, but he caught the attention of 368 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 2: a curious reporter from the Denver Post named Polly Prye. 369 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 2: She began a media campaign for his release, and the 370 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 2: tide of public favor slowly began to turn towards him. 371 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,399 Speaker 2: It was revealed that he had largely been convicted on 372 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:39,679 Speaker 2: flimsy circumstantial evidence. In January of nineteen o one, the 373 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:43,119 Speaker 2: Governor of Colorado made it his final act before retiring, 374 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:47,199 Speaker 2: to grant Parker parole. He would spend the rest of 375 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 2: his days in a quiet flower garden, raising chickens and rabbits. 376 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,159 Speaker 2: He fought until the day he died in nineteen o 377 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 2: seven for a full pardon. According to the telling, his 378 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:10,160 Speaker 2: last words were, I'm not guilty of the charge. Alfred 379 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,919 Speaker 2: Packer always maintained that he may be guilty of eating 380 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 2: the men after they died, he may be guilty of 381 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,200 Speaker 2: taking their money, but the only one of them he 382 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,400 Speaker 2: killed was Bell, which was an act of self defense. 383 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 2: There have been multiple investigations into the matter to determine 384 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,680 Speaker 2: whether Packer had lied about the events in those mountains 385 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 2: or not. But in the words of James E. Stars, 386 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 2: George Washington University law professor and Packer expert. While there's 387 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 2: no question that Packer was a monumental liar, it's likely 388 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:46,439 Speaker 2: that he sometimes told the truth. Investigations in recent years 389 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 2: continue to focus on what really happened that long cold winter. 390 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 2: Physical evidence points to murder, yes, but it doesn't point 391 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 2: researchers in the direction of who did the killing. Today 392 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 2: case is still being debated, but the general consensus remains 393 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:09,920 Speaker 2: we can't know what really happened. Did the pathological liar 394 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 2: lie or did he tell the truth? Who shot first? 395 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:18,399 Speaker 2: And what were the specific circumstances around that violence. Was 396 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 2: Packer a calculated murderer who led these men to their doom? 397 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 2: Or was he a victim of circumstance? Or was the 398 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:32,119 Speaker 2: truth somewhere in between. Today, Packer's cannibalism can be just 399 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:34,679 Speaker 2: as much of a punchline as it is a horror. 400 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 2: The University of Colorado at Boulder, for example, has a 401 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 2: dining hall named after him. Slogan is have your friends 402 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 2: for lunch. We remain fascinated by cannibalism, whether in fact 403 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:51,199 Speaker 2: or fiction or in some murky space in between. We 404 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,640 Speaker 2: see it span centuries and cultures of myth and legend, 405 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 2: and propped up high on the silver screen, we can't 406 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:03,960 Speaker 2: look away. The act represents many different things for each 407 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 2: of us. How far we'll go to survive, what it 408 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,959 Speaker 2: means to be civilized, the link between the known and 409 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:16,800 Speaker 2: the other, and fundamentally, what it means to be human. 410 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 2: How far will any of us go to survive? It's 411 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:24,880 Speaker 2: a question we can all ask ourselves, but can't ever 412 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:29,360 Speaker 2: truly know until we are in the most desperate of circumstances. 413 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:32,920 Speaker 2: In the case of Packer, he is the only one 414 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:38,240 Speaker 2: who truly knew what happened. There's more to this story. 415 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 2: Stick around after this brief sponsor break to hear all 416 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:56,360 Speaker 2: about it. The frigid Yukon was once a place for outlaws. 417 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 2: It's here that rum runner Louis Lincoln and his Auto 418 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 2: found themselves caught in a blizzard one night. The unfortunate 419 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:08,080 Speaker 2: auto accidentally stepped through some ice, soaking his foot and 420 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 2: chilling him to the bone. By the time the two 421 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,359 Speaker 2: brothers made it back to their cabin, they were in 422 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:17,160 Speaker 2: pretty bad shape. The frostbite had set into Otto's foot, 423 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 2: and it became clear that his big toe in particular, 424 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 2: was at risk for developing gangreen, so Louis did what 425 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:26,800 Speaker 2: he had to in order to save his brother's foot. 426 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,800 Speaker 2: He amputated the toe and popped it into a nearby 427 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 2: jar of booze. Why the story doesn't say, but it 428 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 2: seems likely that there was a thought that it could 429 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 2: be preserved with the hope that it someday might be reattached. 430 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 2: Or perhaps it was just a humorous and macabre souvenir. 431 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 2: He had done the work of growing it himself, so 432 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 2: why throw it out. The toe, though, would never again 433 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:57,160 Speaker 2: meet its maker. It languished in its boozy tomb until 434 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy three, when it said the local boat captain 435 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 2: named Dick Stevenson found the jar of alcohol while cleaning 436 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 2: out a cabin. He was delighted. Stevenson picked up the 437 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,359 Speaker 2: jar and ferried it down to his local watering hole. 438 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,919 Speaker 2: There he brought it around the bar, daring patrons to 439 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:20,160 Speaker 2: dunk the toe in their drinks, and thus the Sour 440 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 2: Toe Cocktail Club was born. Sadly, though, the original toe 441 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,159 Speaker 2: was not long for this world. In nineteen eighty a 442 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 2: miner was going for the sourte cocktail world record, and 443 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,240 Speaker 2: on his thirteenth glass he swallowed the toe by accident. 444 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 2: Not to be dissuaded by this temporary roadblock, the club 445 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 2: carried on and lives on at the Sour Toe Saloon, 446 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,960 Speaker 2: still in operation in Dawson City today. It's said that 447 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 2: plenty of amputated toes have been donated for the cause. 448 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 2: One even arrived with a warning, don't wear open toed 449 00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:00,120 Speaker 2: shoes while mowing the lawn. So if you may make 450 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 2: it to Dawson City and are feeling brave, saddle up 451 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 2: to the bar. The club is still taking members, and 452 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 2: lucky for you, the bartender will make the cocktail with 453 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:12,840 Speaker 2: any alcohol of your choice. You might even get a 454 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 2: chance to hear a taunting jingle. You can drink it fast, 455 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 2: you can drink it slow, but your lips must tough 456 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 2: that gnarly tow. American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. 457 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 2: This episode was written by Robin Minietter and researched by 458 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 2: Alex Robinson, with fact checking by Jamie Vargas. It's produced 459 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 2: by Jesse Funk and Trevor Young. The executive producers Aaron Menke, 460 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 2: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, 461 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 2: visit griminmild dot com and four more podcasts. My Heart 462 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:51,520 Speaker 2: Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you 463 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 2: listen to your favorite shows.