Packer rides on, after a
21-gun salute.
The Legend Of Packer Bob
MISSOULA
– The crowd came from the four directions to gather beneath the green
trees of Bonner Park and memorialize
the passing of a mountain-man legend, Packer Bob Sterner.
A
wall tent housed pictures of the mountain man throughout the years. The
scent
of barbequing flank steak floated through the air along with Charlie
Pride
songs. Cowboy stories of Packer’s love for revelry, women, and whiskey
were met
with cheers and laughter. The mood was mournful but stories of Packer’s
life
kept the smiles alive.
Bob
took one last ride as his ashes were led in on horseback, tucked onto a
saddle and
beneath his cowboy hat. Only sounds of nature could be heard as the
lead rider,
Mark Alber, paused in front of the 100-person crowd. Tears fell as he
rode
away. Then, a 21-gun salute thundered, followed by a 100-shot salute as
the crowd hoisted a shot
each skyward
for their fallen friend.
Though
Bob lived a full life, as a sailor taken P.O.W. in the Korean War,
and as
a Rocky Mountain packer, his trail
was cut short in a fit of violence that shocked the Missoula community.
Beaten into a coma in the hallway of his apartment building above
Charlie’s, he
was finally taken off of life support and passed away on June 3. The
person or
people who beat Packer have so far eluded the Missoula Police
Department. We
hope that changes soon.
Bob
was known best for his years behind the reigns of mule and horse pack
strings
in the wilds of central Idaho and western Montana, and spent
his final years in Missoula. From his
stool at Charlie’s Packer served as one of the last links to a day when
trails
outnumbered roads, and a wanderer could pack up and live in the
mountains for
months.
The
legend of Packer Bob is not in danger of leaving this earth anytime
soon. He’ll be remembered as a tough and capable man when it came to
getting
a job done. Tender when it came to kids, and a friend willing to help
someone in
a fix. He was a throwback to another era. Packer was an irreplaceable
elder
statesman of the Lochsa Country. A scholar of the woods, and a
professor in
their
ways. Happy trails, Packer.
