OT Humor: I couldn't resist...

[john smith]

this from rec.backcountry...

The Donner Party was sitting at dinner, enjoying the comedian, when one
of the guests commented, "Does this taste funny to you?"

[W P Dixon]

HEE HEE ;)

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech

"john smith" > wrote in message
.. .
> this from rec.backcountry...
>
> The Donner Party was sitting at dinner, enjoying the comedian, when one of
> the guests commented, "Does this taste funny to you?"

[Jay Beckman]

"john smith" > wrote in message
.. .
> this from rec.backcountry...
>
> The Donner Party was sitting at dinner, enjoying the comedian, when one of
> the guests commented, "Does this taste funny to you?"

A guy I've worked with off and on over the years just loves to give the name
Donner to the hostes when we go out to eat...

"DONNER PARTY, You're table is now ready..." over the loudspeaker always
gets a laugh (and some funny looks...) from the others waiting at the bar.

Jay Beckman
PP-ASEL
AZ Cloudbusters
Chandler, AZ

[Dave]

I live in Gold Country pretty near Donner Pass. The going joke is..

Donner party, party of 4...

Donner Party, party of 3...

and so forth..

"john smith" > wrote in message
.. .
> this from rec.backcountry...
>
> The Donner Party was sitting at dinner, enjoying the comedian, when one of
> the guests commented, "Does this taste funny to you?"

[buttman]

I never understood the whole "donner" thing. I did a google search, and
apparently "Donner Party" has something to do with some western
migration thing. I am so confused.

[Steve Foley]

Trapped in the Mountains

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

On October 31st, when the party was still 150 miles from Sutter's Fort, a
storm hit, dumping several feet of snow. They became trapped in the Sierra
Nevada Mountains and were forced to build a winter camp with little food to
sustain them. When the food ran out, some survived by eating the corpses of
their companions. It was several weeks before rescue parties could be sent
to help because of the Mexican War. Even after the war ended, not everyone
could be rescued at once because of the harsh weather conditions and
difficult terrain.



"buttman" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I never understood the whole "donner" thing. I did a google search, and
> apparently "Donner Party" has something to do with some western
> migration thing. I am so confused.
>

[Dave]

That about sums it up.

Storms can hit quickly up here. Its too bad they couldn't have hooked up
with the natives. They could have shown them how to get through the winter.

At least they didn't have to KILL anyone for food (not that I remember).
They just ate those that died.

"Steve Foley" > wrote in message
news:PqHRe.21375$LK.14717@trndny09...
> Trapped in the Mountains
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
>
> On October 31st, when the party was still 150 miles from Sutter's Fort, a
> storm hit, dumping several feet of snow. They became trapped in the Sierra
> Nevada Mountains and were forced to build a winter camp with little food
> to
> sustain them. When the food ran out, some survived by eating the corpses
> of
> their companions. It was several weeks before rescue parties could be sent
> to help because of the Mexican War. Even after the war ended, not everyone
> could be rescued at once because of the harsh weather conditions and
> difficult terrain.
>
>
>
> "buttman" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> I never understood the whole "donner" thing. I did a google search, and
>> apparently "Donner Party" has something to do with some western
>> migration thing. I am so confused.
>>
>
>

[No Such User]

In article >, Dave wrote:
>
>Storms can hit quickly up here. Its too bad they couldn't have hooked up
>with the natives. They could have shown them how to get through the winter.
>
Not really. The natives dealt with the winter by moving down into lower
valleys. Nobody's going to hang around a place with twenty feet of snow.

[Blanche Cohen]

And the cafeteria at the student union at the Univ of Colorado (Boulder)
is named for Alferd Packer.

[john smith]

Its a true fact that the descendants of the Donner Party have a weekend
get-together and barbecue every summer at Donner Memorial State Park at
Truckee, CA.
We used to imagine menus:
- baby back ribs
- barbecued Bill
- and of course lady fingers for dessert.
- of course there are buckets and buckets of Bloody Marys for the adults
and Shirley Donners (um, err, Temples) for the kids

[vincent p. norris]

>And the cafeteria at the student union at the Univ of Colorado (Boulder)
>is named for Alferd Packer.

Anything unusual on the menu, Blanche?

vince norris

[gregg]

buttman wrote:

> I never understood the whole "donner" thing. I did a google search, and
> apparently "Donner Party" has something to do with some western
> migration thing. I am so confused.

Truly?

Well, as I understand it, the story is that there was a group migrating
somewhere through a mountain pass and they got caught in a snowstorm, ran
out of food and resorted to cannibalism.

--
Saville

Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/backstaffhome.html

Restoration of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/SBOATrestore.htm

Steambending FAQ with photos:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/Steambend.htm

[Montblack]

("vincent p. norris" wrote)
> >And the cafeteria at the student union at the Univ of Colorado (Boulder)
>>is named for Alferd Packer.
>
> Anything unusual on the menu, Blanche?


Manwich


Montblack

[Blanche]

Montblack > wrote:
>("vincent p. norris" wrote)
>> >And the cafeteria at the student union at the Univ of Colorado (Boulder)
>>>is named for Alferd Packer.
>>
>> Anything unusual on the menu, Blanche?
>
>Manwich

(*spit take*)

[Doof]

"Montblack" > wrote in message
...
> ("vincent p. norris" wrote)
>> >And the cafeteria at the student union at the Univ of Colorado (Boulder)
>>>is named for Alferd Packer.
>>
>> Anything unusual on the menu, Blanche?
>
>
> Manwich
>
The restaurant is very expensive. It'll cost you an arm and a leg, for an
arm and a leg.

[RST Engineering]

At his trial, the judge reportedly said, "There was only 7 Democrats in this
whole damn county, Packer, and you et 3 of them."

Jim



>> >And the cafeteria at the student union at the Univ of Colorado (Boulder)
>>>is named for Alferd Packer.

[john smith]

>>>>And the cafeteria at the student union at the Univ of Colorado (Boulder)
>>>>is named for Alferd Packer.

RST Engineering wrote:
> At his trial, the judge reportedly said, "There was only 7 Democrats
in this whole damn county, Packer, and you et 3 of them."



The Story of
Alferd E. Packer

"The Colorado Cannibal"

On February 9, 1874, Alferd Packer and five other men departed from the
camp of Ute Chief Ouray, near what is now Montrose, Colorado. They were
resuming a trek that had begun several months earlier in Provo, Utah,
hoping to reach newly discovered gold prospects in Breckenridge, Colorado.

While the original party was considerably larger, only Packer (as guide)
and Israel Swan, Shannon Wilson Bell, George Noon, James Humphrey, and
Frank Miller dared risk the sometimes brutal Colorado winter in search
of riches. And brutal it was, as not long after leaving the safety of
Chief Ouray's camp, the group was engulfed in a furious blizzard near
the present site of Lake City, Colorado.

Packer was next seen on April 16, 1874, straggling into the Los Pinos
Indian Agency with little more than a rifle and a skinning knife
belonging to members of his party. The story Packer told at that time
was that, once the storm hit, he had set up camp while the others went
forward in search of food. They never returned, and Packer subsequently
headed out for Los Pinos.

After recovering, Packer left for Saguache , Colorado, where by some
accounts he suddenly became a 'big spender' at the local saloon.
Unfortunately for Packer, in Saguache he encountered several men from
the original Provo group who were dubious about his version of the story.

Indian Agent Charles Adams took Packer back to Los Pinos for questioning
about the matter, and on May 8, 1874, extracted the first of Packard's
two conflicting confessions. According to Packer, Israel Swan had died
and the others, being without food, had eaten him. Subsequently, three
others had died from exposure and starvation. Then, Packer admitted to
killing Shannon Bell, claiming it was in self-defense.

Packer was transported back to Saguache and jailed outside of town, not
in the town's jail house as some have told. In August, Packer escaped
from custody and wasn't seen again until March, 1883, when Frenchy
Cabazon, one of the original prospecting party, found him quite by
accident in Douglas, Wyoming.

By coincidence, on the day of Packer's escape from Saguache, the ghostly
remains of the missing prospectors were found in a valley overlooking
what is now Lake City, Colorado. There was evidence of a struggle and
foul play. The gravesite is now marked and fenced as a tribute to the
murdered men.

In March, 1883, Packer was taken to Denver, Colorado, and questioned
again about the incident. In his second confession, Packer stuck with
his original claim of self-defense, but admitted to stealing the rifle
and $70 in cash from the dead men. Packer was charged with the murder
of Israel Swan, the first to die, and was taken to Lake City for trial.

The jury wasted no time in finding Packer guilty of murder, and Judge
Melville B. Gerry pronounced that Packer "be hanged by the neck until
you are dead, dead, dead..." .

Packer appealed his conviction to the Colorado Supreme Court where the
verdict was reversed. He was tried again and this time found guilty of
manslaughter and sentenced to 40 years in the state penitentiary.

After serving only 17 years of his sentence, Packer's cause was
championed by a grass-roots campaign in Denver. In 1901, Governor
Charles S. Thomas granted Packer's parole request.

Packer moved to Littleton, Colorado, where by all accounts he became a
model citizen, well liked by all of his neighbors. He died of natural
causes on April 23, 1907, and was buried with military funeral in
Littleton Cemetery.

Such a legendary story was Packer's that in 1968, students at the
University of Colorado in Boulder christened their new cafeteria The
Alferd E. Packer Memorial Grill ! In 1982, a statue honoring Packer was
commissioned and can be seen on the Boulder campus.

A figure of Packer sits in the women's cell at the Saguache County
Museum. Sheriff Amos Wall guards the prisoner from his chair in his
office. On display are handcuffs, leg irons and other items relating to
the history of Alferd Packer.

Information for this story was compiled from The Saguache County Museum,
Alferd Packer's Wilderness Cookbook by James E. Banks, and other sources.
Buy Banks' book in our Gift Shop.

[john smith]

>>>>> And the cafeteria at the student union at the Univ of Colorado
>>>>> (Boulder) is named for Alferd Packer.

> RST Engineering wrote:
> At his trial, the judge reportedly said, "There was only 7 Democrats
> in this whole damn county, Packer, and you et 3 of them."

from another source...
One of the more colorful stories states that a judge spat at Packer,
"There were seven Dimmycrats in Hinsdale County and you et five of
them!" The truth, apparently, is that the judge was a very literate man
and made no such statement.

[Ash Wyllie]

Doof opined

>"Montblack" > wrote in message
...
>> ("vincent p. norris" wrote)
>>> >And the cafeteria at the student union at the Univ of Colorado (Boulder)
>>>>is named for Alferd Packer.
>>>
>>> Anything unusual on the menu, Blanche?
>>
>>
>> Manwich
>>
>The restaurant is very expensive. It'll cost you an arm and a leg, for an
>arm and a leg.

I picked up a wonderful cookbook several years ago.

/To Serve Man: A Cookbook for People./ It has such delicacies as Chili con
Hombre, Homme Bourguigon and Hungarian Ghoulash.



-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

[[email protected]]

wow thats so funny.

[Flyingmonk]

Jay wrote:
>"DONNER PARTY, You're table is now ready..." over the loudspeaker always
>gets a laugh (and some funny looks...) from the others waiting at the bar.

"Jeffrey Dahmer, party of one!" : -)

Bryan "The Monk" Chaisone

[[email protected]]

vincent p. norris > wrote:
> >And the cafeteria at the student union at the Univ of Colorado (Boulder)
> >is named for Alferd Packer.

> Anything unusual on the menu, Blanche?

"Packer Burgers". :-)


Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocation!" Eberhard

--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jer'at'frii.com WEB http://users.frii.com/jer/
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider, FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot, BM218 HAM N0FZD, 233 Young Eagles!