Carter Roy

Winter arrives early and comes with a vengeance.

And in the San Juan region of Colorado, where they're headed, winter can last up to nine months.

Snow, sleet, and heavy winds pummel Alfred and his group, slowing down travel and endangering everyone's lives.

Weeks into their journey, they run out of provisions entirely and resort to eating animal feed meant for their livestock.

Then, in late January, they had their first stroke of luck.

They reach an encampment, home to the Ute Indians, and the Ute leader welcomes them with open arms.

He gives them food and shelter and tells the prospectors to wait out the winter with his tribe.

It's too dangerous to continue.

Most of the men heed the warning and accept the generous offer.

But a few decide to carry on anyway, blinded by their own greed.

This includes Alfred Packer.

In his mind, fewer men means more money.

Alfred joins a group of six others, among them a butcher, a teenager, an elderly man, a prospector, and a miner.

Since Alfred seems to have the most wilderness experience as a guide, the consensus is he should act as leader.

When they leave the Ute camp, winter is still raging.

We know they travel into the San Juan Mountains, but beyond that, we can't say what actually transpires next because we only have one source for that information, and he may not be the most reliable narrator.

Alfred is the only one to make it out alive.

depending on what you read.

He spends anywhere from 57 to 66 days in the wild, but all accounts agree that Alfred reappears in a town near Gunnison, Colorado sometime around mid-April.

He looks ragged, he looks tired, and he tells the following story.