Editing Saguache, Colorado (section)

==Attractions and recreation==
[[File:Saguache-Ranger-House - Flickr - USDAgov.jpg|thumb|Saguache Ranger House - Circa 1939]]

As the gateway to the [[San Juan Mountains]], home to the [[Rio Grande National Forest]] and the [[La Garita Wilderness]] Area, Saguache offers outdoor activities such as sightseeing, cycling, hiking and camping. Highway 114 to [[Cochetopa Pass]] follows the original [[Old Spanish Trail (trade route)|Old Spanish Trail]], offering high country scenery and access to large tracts of public lands.

Saguache has a small museum. According to the information they provide:
<blockquote>In a tribute to our forebears and in keeping with the work ethic embedded from our agricultural heritage, this Museum has won acclaim from visitors all over the United States, and many foreign countries.<ref>[http://www.saguachetourism.com/history Discover Saguache County – History<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227080910/http://www.saguachetourism.com/history |date=2014-02-27 }}</ref><ref>[http://museumtrail.org/SaguacheTour.asp A Tour of the Saguache County Museum<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Harpers Illustration 1cropped.jpg|thumb|left|''Harper's Weekly'', October 17, 1874, issue.  Illustration by John A. Randolph of the scene of "A Colorado Tragedy".  Photo taken from an original copy.]]
The museum provides information related to convicted cannibal [[Alferd Packer]], who served time in the Saguache County Jail. On February 9, 1874, Alferd Packer and five other men departed from the camp of Ute [[Chief Ouray]], near what is now [[Montrose, Colorado]], prospecting for gold. The party was soon stranded in a blizzard near [[Lake City, Colorado|Lake City]] and nothing was seen of them until April, when Packer came out of the mountains alone.  Packer gave several conflicting stories about the fate of the other men, but finding his stories dubious he was jailed in Saguache where he remained until August, when he escaped.  By coincidence, on the day of Packer's escape from the Saguache jail, the remains of the missing prospectors were found with evidence of foul play and cannibalism. He was eventually found in Wyoming; he was returned and tried in Lake City. Found guilty, he was sentenced to 40 years and was paroled after serving 17. He died in 1907 and by all accounts had been "a model citizen" for his remaining years.<ref name=SLVMuseumAssoc>{{cite web | url=http://www.museumtrail.org/alferd-packer.html | title=Alferd Packer - "The Colorado Cannibal" | publisher=San Luis Valley Museum Association | accessdate=July 6, 2015}}</ref>

Due to the nature of the crime, at the time it was sensationalized and well-covered throughout the nation, and it remains a well-known incident locally in Colorado.   The area where the bodies were discovered is now known as Cannibal Plateau.<ref name=DenverRioGrande>{{cite web|url=http://www.ghostdepot.com/rg/mainline/marshall%20route/lakecity.htm |title=Lake City, CO |publisher=Denver & Rio Grande |access-date=January 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227014405/http://www.ghostdepot.com/rg/mainline/marshall%20route/lakecity.htm |archive-date=February 27, 2015 }}</ref>
Packer is remembered in Lake City by holding an annual Alferd Packer Jeep Tour and Barbecue.<ref name=DenverRioGrande/> The cafeteria in the University of Colorado, Boulder, student union is called the Alferd Packer Memorial Grill.<ref name=DenverRioGrande/>

The museum displays a figure of Packer sitting in a cell with the sheriff guarding the prisoner from his chair in his office. On display are handcuffs, leg irons and other items relating to the history of Alfred Packer.<ref name=SLVMuseumAssoc/>{{clear left}}