Of course, they still do a lot in Colorado, Susan. (Nice to *see* you!) There is a fellow here at the local museum who has written a new book on him, supposedly with new research, etc. I've not read and have been a bit put off by the writer, so...:-)

Never heard the Democrat thing. By that time there should have been a lot of Democrats as there were a lot of settlers from the South who were Democrats like my ancestors. I know Colorado had been mostly Democrat when my parents were growing up and as well as when I grew up here.

Here is what was supposedly said:

During the trial, the judge supposedly said from Wiki:

    "Damn you, Alferd Packer! There were seven Dimmycrats in Hinsdale County and you ate five of them!"

An alternate version of the judge's outburst is

    "Packer, you depraved Republican son of a bitch! There were only five Democrats in Hinsdale County and you ate them all!"

The actual sentencing statement, of course, was a little more in character for an educated state judge:

    "Close your ears to the blandishments of hope. Listen not to the flattering promises of life, but prepare for the dread certainty of death."[4]

Ah, well, it all makes for a good read!