Colorado Desperado

"Big Phil" Gardner was one of the most feared men in the West. He stood about 6' 5, weighed 230 pounds, with long hair, and a full beard. Gardner collected 29 scalps according to legend and was "one of the most singular characters that ever was known on the plains or in the Rocky Mountains".

Gardner led the cavalry as a scout at the Battle of Ash Hollow in 1855, became a legend on the frontier for cannibalism, and had even been named an Indian chief among the Arapaho Indians. He lived with and fought against the American Indians and it is said he could speak every Indian tongue known. It is said Gardner committed every crime known to man but was never known to fail a friend.

COLORADO DESPERADO: The Legend of Cannibal Phil is the first time, never before written biography of one of the Old West's most notorious outlaws. Forgotten today, he was known all over the West as "Big Phil, the Cannibal", noted as both mountain man and outlaw. His story began as a ruffian in the streets of Philadelphia to the Rocky Mountains of the American West where he terrorized Denver, Colorado and his story mysteriously ended in Virginia City, Montana.

The legend of Big Phil Gardner lives on.