In the state of Colorado

In the year of seventy-four

They crossed the San Juan Mountains

Growing hungry to the core.

Their guide was Alferd Packer

And they trusted him too long:

For his character was weak

And his appetite was strong.



They called him a murderer, a cannibal, a thief;

It just doesn't pay to eat anything but Government-inspected beef.



Along the Gunnison River

An Indian camp they spied.

An Indian chief approached them,

To stop them he did try.

He warned them of the danger

In the snow that lay around,

But the danger was in Packer,

For his hunger knew now bound.



They called him a murderer, a cannibal, a thief;

It just doesn't pay to eat anything but Government-inspected beef.



Two cold months went slowly by;

Packer came back alone.