Cullen Baker
Encyclopedia
Cullen Montgomery Baker (June 23, 1835-1869), was a Tennessee
-born Texas
and Arkansas
desperado
whose gang is alleged to have killed hundreds of people including former slaves during the early days of the American Old West
, in the years following the Civil War
, although these numbers are likely inaccurate, and the actual number is likely closer to fifty or sixty.
He was notorious for fighting in saloon
brawls, and for his fiery temper. During one fight, he was knocked unconscious by a man named Morgan Culp, who hit him in the head with a tomahawk
. This seemed, for a time, to have shocked him into behaving, and calmed his temper. Baker has also been described as one of the earlier versions of a gunfighter.
, and as Cullen Baker matured he spent much of his time in the saloons and bars in and around what is now Lafayette and Miller Counties. His father was a farmer
, and owned several head of cattle
in addition to working his crops in the fields. Even at a young age Cullen Baker is said to have developed a quick temper, in addition to having a habit of drinking heavily and often.
On January 11, 1854 in Cass County, Texas
Baker married Martha Jane Petty, and for a time he settled a bit. Martha Jane Petty was the daughter of Hubbard and Nancy Petty. However, eight months into his marriage, while out drinking with friends, he became involved in a verbal altercation with a youth named Stallcup. Baker became enraged, grabbed a whip
, and beat the boy to near death. There were several witnesses to the incident, and Baker was soon charged with the crime. One of the witnesses, Wesley Bailey, was confronted by Baker at Bailey's home. Baker shot him in both legs with a shotgun, then left him lying in front of his house. Bailey died a few days later. Before he could be arrested for the murder
, Baker fled to Arkansas, where he stayed with an uncle. On May 24, 1857, Martha Jane Baker gave birth to a baby girl, Louisa Jane. On June 2, 1860, Martha Jane Baker died. Cullen Baker then returned to Texas, where he left his daughter with his in-laws.
Baker returned to Arkansas, but word of his crimes had spread, and a local woman named Beth Warthom was openly critical of him. He took several hickory
switches to her house, and threatened to beat her. Her husband, David Warthom, began to fight with Baker, and overwhelmed him in front of the house. Beth Warthom screamed, and her husband looked her way. With his attention drawn away from Baker, he was stabbed once with a knife Baker had in his possession. Warthom died on the spot. Baker fled back to Texas, and in July, 1862, he married his second wife Martha Foster, who was unaware that he was wanted for murder. She was a daughter of William and Elizabeth Young Foster.
, joining shortly after his second marriage. By 1864 he had deserted, and joined a band of men called the "Independent Rangers", which was loosely associated with the Confederate Home Guard
which specialized in pursuing and capturing men who deserted the Confederate Army, but which more often than not took advantage of the fact that most of the men in the Arkansas and Texas areas were away at war, leaving mostly elderly men, women and children. This left the door open for acts of intimidation, rape
, theft
and violence for groups of well armed men like the "Independent Rangers". Shortly after Baker joined the "Independent Rangers" they began an ongoing feud
with another band called the "Mountain Boomers", but by the end of that year the "Boomers" had been driven out or forced to disperse due to several of their members having been killed by the "Rangers". In November, 1864 Baker led a group of "Rangers" to intercept a band of Arkansas settlers, mostly older men, women and children who had fled Perry County, Arkansas for a better life out West. Allegedly this was considered "un-patriotic" by Baker, but more likely than not is that he wished to rob them of their possessions. The "Rangers" caught up with these fleeing settlers as they were crossing the Saline River
somewhere in the Ouachita Mountains
, but when the settler band refused to return Baker drew his pistol and shot and killed the band's leader. With assurances from Baker that he would not kill anyone else, the remaining settlers returned to Baker's side of the river, where he quickly led his "Rangers" in shooting and killing nine other men. The event became known locally as the Massacre of Saline.
By that stage of the war the Union Army occupied most of Arkansas, with several troops under the command of Captain F. S. Dodge enforcing the law in the area of Lafayette County. Most of these Union troops were African American
, and despised by Baker. Toward the end of 1864 Baker was in a saloon in the small town of Spanish Bluffs, Arkansas when he was approached by four African American Union soldiers and asked for identification. Baker turned to face them with his pistol drawn, shooting and killing one sergeant
and the three other soldiers.
After the war he operated with a gang he organized with outlaw Lee Rames in the late 1860s, operating out of the Sulphur River
bottoms near Bright Star, Arkansas, committing acts of robbery
and murder. Authorities credit him officially with killing at least 30 people, though many of these no doubt were killed by his men. Unlike the romanticized versions of his exploits, the reality was that he killed most of them from ambush or in the back, and many with a shotgun
, and he almost always had his victims outnumbered. Like many of the ex-Confederates who operated after the war, Baker was regarded as a hero by some because he opposed the Union occupation, but his record shows a merciless killer who killed anyone who angered him, regardless of their loyalties.
In March, 1866 he traveled back to Texas, and while in New Boston, Texas
, he became involved in an argument with several Union Soldiers
. A shootout ensued, and he was shot in the arm, with him killing army sergeant Albert E. Titus. This resulted in a $1,000 reward being placed on him for his capture or death. He returned to Arkansas, and while in a saloon in Bright Star he agreed to join a mob intending to raid the farm of a local farmer named Howell Smith. Smith had hired several recently freed slaves, which was considered inappropriate by much of the local population. During the raid one of Smith's daughters was stabbed, and another clubbed, and a black man was shot and killed. Smith resisted, and a shootout ensued resulting in several mob members being wounded, including Baker being shot in the leg.
Baker, now on the run from Union authorities, went on a killing spree, during which he killed two men, W.G. Kirkman and John Salmons. Salmons had previously killed one of Baker's gang members, Seth Rames, brother to gang member Lee Rames. He also killed a local man named George W. Barron, who had previously taken part as a member of a posse hunting Baker. The gang was active in the areas of Queen City, Texas
and Texarkana, Arkansas
during that time. On June 1, 1867, having returned to Cass County, Baker entered the Rowden general store
where he found the store kept by Mrs. Rowden, after which he simply helped himself to whatever he wanted and left without paying. When the store's owner, John Rowden, discovered this he armed himself with a shotgun and rode out to Baker's house. He demanded that Baker pay him, to which Baker replied that he would come back to the store in a few days with the money. On June 5, 1867, Baker returned, but instead was standing in front of the store yelling for Mr. Rowden to come out and face him. Rowden armed himself with a shotgun and stepped out only to be shot in the chest and killed by Baker. Baker fled back into Arkansas, and a few days later he was confronted by a Union sergeant and one private as Baker boarded a ferry
. When he was accused of being Cullen Baker, after he'd told them his name was Johnson, Baker went for his gun as did the sergeant. Baker shot the Union sergeant four times killing him, with the Union private fleeing on horseback and reporting the murder to a Captain Kirkham. Following his murder of this sergeant Baker was pursued relentlessly by Union forces in the area. On October 24, 1868 Baker and his gang were reported to have been involved in the killings of Major P.J. Andrews, Lt H.F. Willis, an unnamed negro and wounding of Sherriff Standel of Little Rock Arkansas.
Baker and Kirby rode to Bloomburg, Texas
and the house of Baker's in-laws in January 1869. It would be there that Cullen Baker and "Dummy" Kirby were killed. What exactly happened, however, has at least two versions;
First version: Unknown to Baker, his wife Martha Foster's father and friends had laced a bottle of whiskey and some food with strychnine
. Kirby and Baker drank and ate it, and both died from poisoning. Their bodies were then shot several times by Foster and some friends.
Second version: A local school teacher named Thomas Orr had become involved romantically with Baker's second wife Martha, and led a small band of men who ambushed Baker and Kirby at the Foster home, shooting and killing him near to the chimney of the house, along with Kirby. It is known that a school teacher named Thomas Orr was one of the friends to the in-laws who took part in the killing of Baker. As to the affair, it is unknown.
What both versions share is the end result. Baker and Kirby were killed, it did happen at the Foster home, both were shot numerous times, whether that was what killed them or it happened after they died from poisoning, then the bodies were dragged through the town of Bloomburg. The bodies were then taken to the US Army outpost near Jefferson
, where they were placed on public display.
The town of Bloomburg, Texas continues to commemorate the event with the annual Cullen Baker Country Fair, held the first weekend in November. Proceeds benefit the Bloomburg Volunteer Fire Department.
"He wuz mah frien' as long as he lib, and he wuz a good frien' ob de South 'cause he saved lots ob white folks frum de wrath ob de mean niggers." (sic) .
Doc Quinn provides an account of Cullen Baker's death at which he claims to have been present.
"I saw Colonel Baker killed. We had just arrived at his father-in-law's
house and I wuz in the horse lot, about 50 yards from de house, when Joe
Davis. Thomas Orr and some more men rode up."
"De Colonel wuz standin' by de chimney an did not see dem come aroun' de
house. Dey killed him befo' he knew dey wuz aroun'."
Whilst Doc Quinn refers to Cullen Baker as Colonel Baker, the text from which Doc Quinn is quoted has the following inclusion, presumably included by the editor of the publication to clarify any confusion:
"Note: The Col. Baker referred to was Cullen Baker, the leader of a ruthless gang of bushwhackers that operated in this (Texarkana, Arkansas) section shortly after the Civil War."
Louis L'amour
, author of many western novels, wrote about Cullen Baker in several of his books. Baker only starred in one of these, however, that being The First Fast Draw. Other books by L'amour that reference Baker include Lando, one of L'amour's many novels about a feuding Tennessee family. Baker was also the subject of the book Cullen Baker; Reconstruction Desperado, authored by Barry A. Crouch and Donally E. Brice. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Cullen-Montgomery-Baker-Reconstruction-Desperado/Barry-A-Crouch/e/9780807121405
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
-born Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
desperado
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
whose gang is alleged to have killed hundreds of people including former slaves during the early days of the American Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
, in the years following the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, although these numbers are likely inaccurate, and the actual number is likely closer to fifty or sixty.
He was notorious for fighting in saloon
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
brawls, and for his fiery temper. During one fight, he was knocked unconscious by a man named Morgan Culp, who hit him in the head with a tomahawk
Tomahawk (axe)
A tomahawk is a type of axe native to North America, traditionally resembling a hatchet with a straight shaft. The name came into the English language in the 17th century as a transliteration of the Powhatan word.Tomahawks were general purpose tools used by Native Americans and European Colonials...
. This seemed, for a time, to have shocked him into behaving, and calmed his temper. Baker has also been described as one of the earlier versions of a gunfighter.
Early life
Baker was born in Weakley County, Tennessee, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Baker. Soon after his birth his family moved to Clarksville, ArkansasClarksville, Arkansas
Clarksville is a city in Johnson County, Arkansas, United States. The population was approximately 9,300 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Johnson County.. Clarksville is nestled between the Arkansas River and the foot hills of the Ozark Mountains and Interstate 40 and US Hwy 64...
, and as Cullen Baker matured he spent much of his time in the saloons and bars in and around what is now Lafayette and Miller Counties. His father was a farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
, and owned several head of cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
in addition to working his crops in the fields. Even at a young age Cullen Baker is said to have developed a quick temper, in addition to having a habit of drinking heavily and often.
On January 11, 1854 in Cass County, Texas
Cass County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 30,438 people, 12,190 households, and 8,654 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile . There were 13,890 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...
Baker married Martha Jane Petty, and for a time he settled a bit. Martha Jane Petty was the daughter of Hubbard and Nancy Petty. However, eight months into his marriage, while out drinking with friends, he became involved in a verbal altercation with a youth named Stallcup. Baker became enraged, grabbed a whip
Whip
A whip is a tool traditionally used by humans to exert control over animals or other people, through pain compliance or fear of pain, although in some activities whips can be used without use of pain, such as an additional pressure aid in dressage...
, and beat the boy to near death. There were several witnesses to the incident, and Baker was soon charged with the crime. One of the witnesses, Wesley Bailey, was confronted by Baker at Bailey's home. Baker shot him in both legs with a shotgun, then left him lying in front of his house. Bailey died a few days later. Before he could be arrested for the murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, Baker fled to Arkansas, where he stayed with an uncle. On May 24, 1857, Martha Jane Baker gave birth to a baby girl, Louisa Jane. On June 2, 1860, Martha Jane Baker died. Cullen Baker then returned to Texas, where he left his daughter with his in-laws.
Baker returned to Arkansas, but word of his crimes had spread, and a local woman named Beth Warthom was openly critical of him. He took several hickory
Hickory
Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...
switches to her house, and threatened to beat her. Her husband, David Warthom, began to fight with Baker, and overwhelmed him in front of the house. Beth Warthom screamed, and her husband looked her way. With his attention drawn away from Baker, he was stabbed once with a knife Baker had in his possession. Warthom died on the spot. Baker fled back to Texas, and in July, 1862, he married his second wife Martha Foster, who was unaware that he was wanted for murder. She was a daughter of William and Elizabeth Young Foster.
The Civil War and after
Baker served with the Confederate Army during the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, joining shortly after his second marriage. By 1864 he had deserted, and joined a band of men called the "Independent Rangers", which was loosely associated with the Confederate Home Guard
Confederate Home Guard
The Confederate Home Guard was a somewhat loosely organized militia that was under the direction and authority of the Confederate States of America, working in coordination with the Confederate Army, and was tasked with both the defense of the Confederate home front during the American Civil War,...
which specialized in pursuing and capturing men who deserted the Confederate Army, but which more often than not took advantage of the fact that most of the men in the Arkansas and Texas areas were away at war, leaving mostly elderly men, women and children. This left the door open for acts of intimidation, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
and violence for groups of well armed men like the "Independent Rangers". Shortly after Baker joined the "Independent Rangers" they began an ongoing feud
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
with another band called the "Mountain Boomers", but by the end of that year the "Boomers" had been driven out or forced to disperse due to several of their members having been killed by the "Rangers". In November, 1864 Baker led a group of "Rangers" to intercept a band of Arkansas settlers, mostly older men, women and children who had fled Perry County, Arkansas for a better life out West. Allegedly this was considered "un-patriotic" by Baker, but more likely than not is that he wished to rob them of their possessions. The "Rangers" caught up with these fleeing settlers as they were crossing the Saline River
Saline River (Ouachita River)
The Saline River is a tributary of the Ouachita River in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Arkansas.The Saline River begins in the eastern foothills of the Ouachita Mountains in Saline and Garland counties and is one of the last free-flowing rivers in the Ouachita River Basin...
somewhere in the Ouachita Mountains
Ouachita Mountains
The Ouachita Mountains are a mountain range in west central Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. The range's subterranean roots may extend as far as central Texas, or beyond it to the current location of the Marathon Uplift. Along with the Ozark Mountains, the Ouachita Mountains form the U.S...
, but when the settler band refused to return Baker drew his pistol and shot and killed the band's leader. With assurances from Baker that he would not kill anyone else, the remaining settlers returned to Baker's side of the river, where he quickly led his "Rangers" in shooting and killing nine other men. The event became known locally as the Massacre of Saline.
By that stage of the war the Union Army occupied most of Arkansas, with several troops under the command of Captain F. S. Dodge enforcing the law in the area of Lafayette County. Most of these Union troops were African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, and despised by Baker. Toward the end of 1864 Baker was in a saloon in the small town of Spanish Bluffs, Arkansas when he was approached by four African American Union soldiers and asked for identification. Baker turned to face them with his pistol drawn, shooting and killing one sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
and the three other soldiers.
After the war he operated with a gang he organized with outlaw Lee Rames in the late 1860s, operating out of the Sulphur River
Sulphur River
The Sulphur River is a river in northeast Texas and southwest Arkansas in the United States.-Geography:The Sulphur River begins at the confluence of its north and south forks along the Delta–Lamar county line...
bottoms near Bright Star, Arkansas, committing acts of robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
and murder. Authorities credit him officially with killing at least 30 people, though many of these no doubt were killed by his men. Unlike the romanticized versions of his exploits, the reality was that he killed most of them from ambush or in the back, and many with a shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
, and he almost always had his victims outnumbered. Like many of the ex-Confederates who operated after the war, Baker was regarded as a hero by some because he opposed the Union occupation, but his record shows a merciless killer who killed anyone who angered him, regardless of their loyalties.
In March, 1866 he traveled back to Texas, and while in New Boston, Texas
New Boston, Texas
New Boston is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It was named after an early store keeper, W.J. Boston. It is part of the Texarkana, Texas - Texarkana, Arkansas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, he became involved in an argument with several Union Soldiers
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
. A shootout ensued, and he was shot in the arm, with him killing army sergeant Albert E. Titus. This resulted in a $1,000 reward being placed on him for his capture or death. He returned to Arkansas, and while in a saloon in Bright Star he agreed to join a mob intending to raid the farm of a local farmer named Howell Smith. Smith had hired several recently freed slaves, which was considered inappropriate by much of the local population. During the raid one of Smith's daughters was stabbed, and another clubbed, and a black man was shot and killed. Smith resisted, and a shootout ensued resulting in several mob members being wounded, including Baker being shot in the leg.
Baker, now on the run from Union authorities, went on a killing spree, during which he killed two men, W.G. Kirkman and John Salmons. Salmons had previously killed one of Baker's gang members, Seth Rames, brother to gang member Lee Rames. He also killed a local man named George W. Barron, who had previously taken part as a member of a posse hunting Baker. The gang was active in the areas of Queen City, Texas
Queen City, Texas
Queen City is a city in Cass County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,613 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Queen City is located at ....
and Texarkana, Arkansas
Texarkana, Arkansas
As of the census of 2000, there were 26,448 people, 10,384 households, and 7,040 families residing in the city. The population density was 830.5 people per square mile . There were 11,721 housing units at an average density of 368.1 per square mile...
during that time. On June 1, 1867, having returned to Cass County, Baker entered the Rowden general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
where he found the store kept by Mrs. Rowden, after which he simply helped himself to whatever he wanted and left without paying. When the store's owner, John Rowden, discovered this he armed himself with a shotgun and rode out to Baker's house. He demanded that Baker pay him, to which Baker replied that he would come back to the store in a few days with the money. On June 5, 1867, Baker returned, but instead was standing in front of the store yelling for Mr. Rowden to come out and face him. Rowden armed himself with a shotgun and stepped out only to be shot in the chest and killed by Baker. Baker fled back into Arkansas, and a few days later he was confronted by a Union sergeant and one private as Baker boarded a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
. When he was accused of being Cullen Baker, after he'd told them his name was Johnson, Baker went for his gun as did the sergeant. Baker shot the Union sergeant four times killing him, with the Union private fleeing on horseback and reporting the murder to a Captain Kirkham. Following his murder of this sergeant Baker was pursued relentlessly by Union forces in the area. On October 24, 1868 Baker and his gang were reported to have been involved in the killings of Major P.J. Andrews, Lt H.F. Willis, an unnamed negro and wounding of Sherriff Standel of Little Rock Arkansas.
Downfall and assassination
Although Baker was feared by his own men, Lee Rames, who was recognized as the co-leader and co-founder of Baker's gang, also had a substantial and deadly reputation. Rames began to doubt Baker's leadership, and that eventually Baker would lead to the downfall of the entire gang. Lee Rames defied Baker and Baker backed down, leading to the gang breaking up. All but one gang member, "Dummy" Kirby, sided with Rames.Baker and Kirby rode to Bloomburg, Texas
Bloomburg, Texas
Bloomburg is a town in Cass County, Texas, United States. The population was 375 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bloomburg is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
and the house of Baker's in-laws in January 1869. It would be there that Cullen Baker and "Dummy" Kirby were killed. What exactly happened, however, has at least two versions;
First version: Unknown to Baker, his wife Martha Foster's father and friends had laced a bottle of whiskey and some food with strychnine
Strychnine
Strychnine is a highly toxic , colorless crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine causes muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia or sheer exhaustion...
. Kirby and Baker drank and ate it, and both died from poisoning. Their bodies were then shot several times by Foster and some friends.
Second version: A local school teacher named Thomas Orr had become involved romantically with Baker's second wife Martha, and led a small band of men who ambushed Baker and Kirby at the Foster home, shooting and killing him near to the chimney of the house, along with Kirby. It is known that a school teacher named Thomas Orr was one of the friends to the in-laws who took part in the killing of Baker. As to the affair, it is unknown.
What both versions share is the end result. Baker and Kirby were killed, it did happen at the Foster home, both were shot numerous times, whether that was what killed them or it happened after they died from poisoning, then the bodies were dragged through the town of Bloomburg. The bodies were then taken to the US Army outpost near Jefferson
Jefferson, Texas
Jefferson is an historic city in Marion County in northeastern Texas, United States. The population was 2,024 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marion County, Texas, and is situated in East Texas...
, where they were placed on public display.
The town of Bloomburg, Texas continues to commemorate the event with the annual Cullen Baker Country Fair, held the first weekend in November. Proceeds benefit the Bloomburg Volunteer Fire Department.
Possible eye witness version to death
Reference to Cullen (Col) Baker is made by former slave Doc Quinn in the Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States - From Interviews with Former Slaves - Arkansas Narratives, Part 6. Doc Quinn provides a somewhat different perspective on Cullen Baker throughout. The statements of Doc Quinn are recorded as follows:"He wuz mah frien' as long as he lib, and he wuz a good frien' ob de South 'cause he saved lots ob white folks frum de wrath ob de mean niggers." (sic) .
Doc Quinn provides an account of Cullen Baker's death at which he claims to have been present.
"I saw Colonel Baker killed. We had just arrived at his father-in-law's
house and I wuz in the horse lot, about 50 yards from de house, when Joe
Davis. Thomas Orr and some more men rode up."
"De Colonel wuz standin' by de chimney an did not see dem come aroun' de
house. Dey killed him befo' he knew dey wuz aroun'."
Whilst Doc Quinn refers to Cullen Baker as Colonel Baker, the text from which Doc Quinn is quoted has the following inclusion, presumably included by the editor of the publication to clarify any confusion:
"Note: The Col. Baker referred to was Cullen Baker, the leader of a ruthless gang of bushwhackers that operated in this (Texarkana, Arkansas) section shortly after the Civil War."
Louis L'amour
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American author. His books consisted primarily of Western fiction novels , however he also wrote historical fiction , science fiction , nonfiction , as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into movies...
, author of many western novels, wrote about Cullen Baker in several of his books. Baker only starred in one of these, however, that being The First Fast Draw. Other books by L'amour that reference Baker include Lando, one of L'amour's many novels about a feuding Tennessee family. Baker was also the subject of the book Cullen Baker; Reconstruction Desperado, authored by Barry A. Crouch and Donally E. Brice. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Cullen-Montgomery-Baker-Reconstruction-Desperado/Barry-A-Crouch/e/9780807121405