Mrs. Leonel Campbell Ross O'Bryan (1857–1938), known under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Polly Pry, was a controversial reporter for the ''

Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'' and later as a freelancer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She is best remembered for her connection to the case of

Alferd Packer Alfred Griner Packer (January 21, 1842 – April 23, 1907), also known as "The Colorado Cannibal", was an American prospector and self-proclaimed professional wilderness guide who confessed to cannibalism during the winter of 1874. He and fi ...

as an investigative reporter.

Early life

Pry was born to a wealthy family in 1857. Aged fifteen, she eloped to Mexico with a railroad industrialist named George Anthony. Five years later, Pry left Anthony and moved to New York to become a reporter. While initially being rejected by the New York Times, she succeeded in getting a trial assignment on a recent slum fire. The article she then produced was good enough to earn her a full time job there. In 1898, Pry was hired by Frederick Bonfils for the Denver Post, becoming the paper's first female reporter.

Relationship with Packer

Pry met Alferd Packer in 1901 while she was writing an article on the prison where he was incarcerated. She advocated for him in print throughout the trial, helping to win his release. After the trial, she was present during a confrontation between the attorney for Packer, hired by the owners of the ''Post''. They learned that the attorney had taken a double payment, demanding he return the money. During the confrontation, the attorney, W.W. "Plughat" Anderson, pulled a gun and shot both of the men; as he prepared to shoot again she jumped in front of H.H. Tammen, trying to shield him. Anderson threatened to shoot her if she didn't move; however, she stalled him long enough for the police to arrive and used her skirt to stop the bleeding. Later, rumors began circulating that her skirts saved her publishers' lives by slowing down bullets from the gun.

Later life

When union workers boycotted the ''Post'' for her stance on labor issues and

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

, she founded her own paper, ''Polly Pry''. This brought further attacks from gunmen on her, this time in her home rather than her workplace. She was a strong advocate of

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been ...

and came to the aid of French war orphans during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Pry passed away on 16 July 1938, aged eighty.

In popular culture

Two film versions of the Alferd Packer story have included Polly Pry. In Jim Roberson's ''

The Legend of Alfred Packer ''The Legend of Alfred Packer'' is a 1980 American biographical Western film directed by Jim Roberson from a script by Burton Raffel. It is a biopic of Alferd Packer starring Patrick Dray in the title role. The film features a score by Boliv ...

'' (1980), she was portrayed by Cynthia Nessin. The incident with Anderson (who was not named, and called "Gunman" in the credits) was included, but after she begins telling Packer's story, she does not appear again in the film, involved or otherwise, and the shooting is not mentioned again. She is depicted as a hard-drinking and forceful person.

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. P ...

's ''

Cannibal! The Musical ''Cannibal! The Musical'' (originally known as ''Alferd Packer: The Musical'') is a 1993 American black comedy musical film directed, written, produced, co-scored by and starring Trey Parker in his directorial debut while studying at the Univer ...

'' featured

Toddy Walters Toddy Elizabeth Walters (born October 24, 1969 in Denver, Colorado) is an actress/singer/songwriter. Career A Denver native, Toddy Walters has been a singer/songwriter/actor/voice actor for the bulk of her life. Walters went to the University of ...

in the role, which went more deeply into her involvement with the case but ignored the fact that she was married in order to make her a

love interest ''Gli Innamorati'' (, meaning "The Lovers") were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the Lovers in some regard. These dramatic and pos ...

for Packer.

References

1857 births 1938 deaths {{US-journalist-19thC-stub