In November 1873, 20 men left the Bingham Canyon mines near Salt Lake City, Utah, for the gold fields of Breckenridge, Colorado – upon news of a massive strike that was discovered there. The men were largely strangers to each other, and banded together to make their fortune in Colorado, after Bob McGrue rallied any willing men to follow him. A member of this original party, George Tracy, claimed that the men encountered Packer some 25 miles from their starting point, near Provo. Packer asked where they were headed, and when he heard they were headed to the gold country of the San Juan Mountains, he said he would like to join them. Packer was without money and also lacked adequate supplies, so the men were apprehensive to take him along, but Packer claimed he was both a prospector and a guide, and that he knew the San Juan territory well. His claim gave him a position of worth among the simple prospectors, who knew little or nothing of Colorado's geography. Unfortunately, neither did Packer.