Cullen Baker was a bad man.
It started when he was 15, when his father sent him to a nearby grist mill to
grind a bag of corn. Some boys teased him about his badly fitting clothes. He
tried to ignore them, but a bully named Atkinson stepped on his bare feet. That
was about all he could take. He launched an attack and may have killed him had
not the other boys pulled him away. Thus began his reputation as a bully.
One day in 1853, when he
was 18 years old, while was drinking at the Forest Home saloon with his
brother-in-law Matthew Powell, he started a fight with another man. Baker
seemed to be winning, so a friend of the other man joined in. Then Powell
joined Baker. Soon there was a free-for-all. Both Baker and Powell were injured
in the fight. Baker was knocked unconscious by a tomahawk.
Baker regained
consciousness at a friend’s house. The experience seemed to sober him up and he
tried to stay on the straight and narrow path. In January, 1854 he married Jane
Petty. But only eight months later he was back drinking with his friends. One
day he got into an altercation with a young man named Stallcup. He whipped the
boy until he was nearly dead. There were several witnesses. Soon he was brought
up on charges.
A man named Wesley Bailey
was one of the chief witnesses against him. Baker accosted him at his home. He
shot Bailey in the legs with a buckshot, “to teach him a lesson.” A few days
later Bailey died. When Baker heard about it he rode to Arkansas where he
stayed with an uncle. In 1856 he returned to Texas to get his wife, and took
her to the uncle’s house. While there, she gave birth to a baby girl, Loula, on
May 24, 1857. Jane died on July 2, 1860. Baker took the child back to Texas to
live with his in-laws.
He stayed out of sight for
awhile. He married Martha Foster in July 1862. Then he joined the Confederate
army. Not long after he joined he was sent from Arkansas back to Texas with
some army horses. While there, Baker noticed that the women and children were
largely unprotected. He was gone so long, trying to help them, that the army
labeled him a deserter. The army kept coming after the deserters because they
were so desperate for men. One day a group called the “Independent Rangers”
captured him. But they were a group of deserters and outcasts. He fit right in
with these men. They began raiding the defenseless homes of the countryside.
Baker settled on the
Sulphur River, where he established a ferry service. A few months later, Martha
died. Baker was very upset about it because he had really adored her. Shortly
afterward, some federal troops arrived at the house to arrest Baker. They
wrecked his house and used his wife’s picture for target practice. He swore
revenge. He followed the troops to Boston, Texas where he became engaged in a
shoot-out. He was shot in the arm. Baker killed a sergeant named Albert E.
Titus.
Because so many people were
after him, Baker had to live off the land. Occasionally he would rob remote
stores or farms. Most of the victims just took it in stride. But Mr. Rowden of
Queen City, Texas, took exception. He was away when Baker came into the store
and took things from his wife, who was minding the store. Rowden loudly
denounced Baker’s tactics. This got Baker’s attention. He rode into Queen City
and promptly shot Mr. Rowden dead.
On Christmas Day, 1867,
Baker walked into a saloon in Bright Star, Arkansas. A citizens group was
planning to raid the home of Howell Smith. Smith had recently hired some black
workers. He did not have any housing for them, so allowed them to stay in his
own house. Because the Smiths had grown daughters this was considered a breach
of decorum. There were also rumors that Smith was having his way with one of
the black women and that one of the black men had offended a white neighbor.
These men elected Baker as their leader to whip the black man and warn Smith.
Baker and the men demanded
that Smith turn the black man over to them. Smith refused. A fight broke out
and Smith and one of the black workers was killed. One of the Smith girls was
clubbed and another was stabbed. Baker was shot in the thigh. Baker escaped and
hid at the home of his father-in-law. Meanwhile a vigilante group of over 300
men formed from volunteers in the Atlanta-Queen city and soldiers.
The posse got close to
Baker and his men several times, but Baker always kept one step ahead. A group
of six men tried to force the location of Baker’s hiding place out of Seth
Rames, a youth who knew Baker, but actually didn’t know where he was hiding.
The men killed him anyway. Baker was on the run until October 1868, when he
came out of hiding to kill W. G. Kirkman, the man who had shot him in the arm.
A few days later, he and his gang killed J. P. Anderson and H. F. Willis.
Colonel R. Phillip Crump, a
former officer of the Confederacy, heard that Baker was back at his old tricks.
He wanted to try to convince him to leave the country. A conversation between
the two actually did take place near Texarkana on November 14, 1868. Baker
promised he would leave the country in a few days.
Just when he was fixing to
settle down, he heard of a black man who had been boasting that he knew where
Baker’s hiding place was. Somehow this triggered his temper, and he began
riding around on another killing spree. One of the man killed was Jim Salmons,
the man who had killed Seth Rames. He killed the black man who had boasted of
knowing his hiding place. He killed a man named George W. Barron for
participating in the man hunt the previous year.
Then Baker rode to his
father-in-law’s house, where he took him, Old Joe Davis, and Tom Orr prisoner.
Tom Orr was hanged from a tree. Unbeknownst to Baker, Orr was still alive when
his long-time lieutenant Lee Rames cut him down. The outlaws rode on with their
other two prisoners. When they reached Bright Star they let Foster and Davis
go.
In December 1868, Baker and
Rames went separate ways. Almost all of the men went with Rames. Only Dummy
Kirby went with Baker. In January, the two headed back to Foster’s house. Tom
Orr saw them coming and went for help. By the time they reached Foster’s house,
Baker and Kirby were already dead. Foster had laced his whiskey with
strychnine. Kirby died when he ate some spare ribs also laced with strychnine.
Each of the men standing nearby fired numerous gunshots into the dead bodies.
The bodies were then taken to the U.S. Army barracks at Jefferson, where they
were put on public display.
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The
Last Full-Sized Train Robbery in Texas |
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Ben Kilpatrick mug shot circa 1901 Ohio Federal Penitentiary |
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If the name sounds familiar to our wild-west buffs, yes, Ben was the same Tall Texan who ran with The Wild Bunch. They weren't always running though, and when they sat for that well- known photograph in Fort Worth, Mr. Kilpatrick is sitting dead center. Most people assume he was Butch Cassidy because of his prominent position and his look of authority. Various sources have reported Ben as having two pupils in his left eye, however this was not the case. We were contacted by a Mr. Arthur Soule of Utah who has written an entire book on this incident.Ordering information will appear at the end of this story. History repeats itself because men like Ben Kilpatrick didn't listen the first time. The outlaw "Black Jack" Ketchum got his dubious place in history back in 1901 by being the only man ever hung for train robbery. He did kill some people, but technically it was the train robbery that gave him the death penalty. Our sources say the charge was "felonious assault upon a railroad." The Tall Texan was illiterate, so he missed the newspaper accounts of the Ketchum hanging which had occurred ten years earlier. But both were from Knickerbocker and both were Knickerbocker School of Hard Knocks alumni. One would assume that Ketchum's failure was a topic of conversation in the barbershop there for many years. "Black Jack," who was a Caucasian, by the way, and was also not named after a cudgel, got a painful arm wound in his last attempted train robbery which was in New Mexico. The rest of the gang overslept and weren't there to meet the train, so BJ went solo, which cost him his arm. After his capture, BJ's doctor decided that maybe the operation should be upgraded to an amputation. BJ's refusal of anesthetic during the removal isn't as brave as it sounds. He was often seen pummeling his head with his pistols when he made mistakes, sometimes even when he didn't make mistakes. This leads several historians to believe he might have enjoyed the pain. Coincidentally, Ben's brother Sam had died of blood poisoning a few years earlier when he refused to have his arm amputated after getting it shot in a train robbery of his own. Black Jack Goes to Hell - Head First. The day of Black Jack's departure arrived and during the high point of his not-so-excellent adventure, the novice hangman either made the drop too long or tied the wrong knot and Black Jack's head and body were separated. The event was photographed both before and after, making it a lucrative day for photographers. The coroner reunited the head and torso with needle and thread. |
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Meanwhile, back on the tracks…. If the Tall Texan knew of Mr. Ketcham's end, or if it would've made a difference is a moot point. Ben Kilpatrick and Ole Hobeck had what Black Jack didn't have - a novel plan and heads on their shoulders. |
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An argument for counting your SWAG before leaving the scene. The plan was that Ole and Ben would board the train in Dryden as regular paying passengers. Black Jack Ketchum had robbed the train near Dryden a few years before in one of his "successful" robberies. After dynamiting one of the express car's two safes (the one the agent said held the cash), BJ and Company fled to Mexico, without looking closely at the contents of their bags. They left $90,000 behind. |
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One wet-behind-the-ears desperado, waiting for the train. For this caper, Ben and Ole had an 11 year old boy (who was so eager to start a life of crime, he had already chosen "The Cimmaron Kid" as his alias) stationed with fresh horses about 10 miles east of Sanderson. What made this plan novel was that the horses had been shod with their horseshoes backward (Really). After conducting business, they would gallop off, seemingly in the opposite direction or something like that. That wasn't to be, though, for a Wells-Fargo employee named Dave A. Trousdale, rained on their parade by not cooperating. Ole met his end by having his vertebrae compressed with an ice-mallet and the Tall Texan was shot minutes later. The bandits climbed into the Engine compartment at Baxter's Curve and introduced themselves to the engineer. They wore bandana masks and throughout the robbery called each other by the names "Frank" and "Pardner". These guys thought of everything! The Engineer was told to take the engine to the first iron bridge. The passenger cars were then disconnected and rolled down the incline. The robbers had a member of the train crew order the express agent to open the door and this was done. According to Mr. Trousdale's account, the two men (Trousdale and Hobek) walked down the aisle of the express car past a shipment of oysters and the ice that preserved them. Trousdale slipped an ice tool under his coat. When Holbeck put his rifle down to examine the contents of a mail sack, Trousdale hit him in the back of the neck with the tool. Second and third blows to the top of the head finished the job. After some time, the Tall Texan approached the car and asked for a progress report. What he got was a bullet. The Cimmaron Kid was left holding the feed bag. Trousdale was given a reward of a gold watch by Mr. Wells and Mr. Fargo and the passengers gave him a fob with a diamond set in a Texas star. The Cimmaron Kid went straight. Years later, in 1972, the "Kid" who's last name was Longbaugh and claimed to be the son of the Sundance Kid, died in a hotel fire in Montana. |
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Sheriff Anderson of Sanderson The two dead outlaws were taken to Sanderson where they were photographed standing up (with a little help). In the photo they appear very drunk or only slightly dead. The Tall Texan resembles a sleepy Bruce Willis. At the time of this fiasco, Sanderson's Sherrif was named Anderson. We'd like to say more about him, but our sources only mention that he was there. |
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Sleeping Double in a Single Grave They were buried in Potter's Field in Sanderson as unknowns. A marker was placed over their graves many years later and while the headstone is a double header, the truth is they were simply dumped in the hole together. We are told their graves are a major tourist attraction in present-day Sanderson. |
Sanderson,
Texas
Texas Features
Texas Jack was born at
Pleasant Hill, Virginia, on July 26, 1846. He was one of thirteen children born
to J. B. and Catherine Baker Omohundro. His father was descended from the
Powhatan tribe, and Jack was always proud of his Indian heritage. He entered
school at the usual time, but like many boys of that era, he preferred hunting
and fishing to book learning. At a young age he became an expert rider and
marksman.
At just 15, he headed
southwest to Texas, where he wanted to become a cattleman. He got a job at a
ranch, where he became very skilled with a rope. But then the Civil War broke
out and Jack wanted to fight. He returned to Virginia to enlist in the army but
he was too young. So he hired on as a civilian courier for the Virginia
Militia, working for Major General John Buchanan Floyd. He eventually took on
scouting duties as well.
When Major Floyd died, Jack
was able to formally enlist in Company G, 5th Regiment Virginia Cavalry, under
General J. E. B. Stuart. He acted as a scout and performed admirably. He was
present at the battles of Todd’s Tavern and Mitchell’s Shop. He was injured in
the Battle of Trevilian Station.
After the war was over,
Jack returned home. But he was restless and soon left again for Texas. He was
sidetracked for a year, when the ship he was sailing across the Gulf of Mexico
got caught up in a storm. The ship grounded on the Florida coast. Jack stayed
there and hunted and fished and taught school. He struck out again for Texas,
but this time on land.
When he arrived he got a
job on a large ranch. It was about this time that people started calling him
Texas Jack. It was when he drove a herd of cattle to a meat market in
Tennessee. When asked where he was from and what his name was, the grateful
crowd there put Texas and Jack together and called him Texas Jack. The name stuck
with him the rest of his short life.
Jack often found himself
defending the ranch from Indians and rustlers. Some Comanches attacked the
ranch one day and tried to drive off some horses and cattle. Jack shot several
of them before they gave up. One time he rescued a small boy, whose parents had
been killed by Indians. He also drove several herds of cattle up the famous
Chisholm Trail.
In 1869, he happened to be
in Fort Hays, Kansas where he met California Joe Milner, who was General
Custer’s chief of scouts. He also met Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody
there. On the same trip, Jack found himself at Fort McPherson at Cottonwood
Springs. There was plenty of work there for him, as the Indians constantly
harassed the fort. There were also buffalo hunts. He liked the area so well, he
moved there. The army hired him as a hunter, guide, and scout.
One time, some bandits were
regularly sneaking into the fort and making off with various goods. The army
had tried to track them but never had any luck. Jack decided he would take it
upon himself to discover who they were. He noticed some men that hung around a
nearby town that spent a lot of time gambling. He assumed the costume of a
gambler and hung around the saloons and became friendly with the suspects. They
trusted Jack and told them of their plans to rob a supply train that was coming
to the fort. They asked Jack if he would like to join them. Jack agreed. Then
under the pretense of going hunting for them, he rode off to warn the fort. On
the way back, he shot a deer for their dinner.
On the planned day, the
bandits rode to the fort. Soldiers had been stationed in hidden places around
it. They waited for a prearranged signal from Jack. Jack raised his hat and
scratched his forehead. That was it! The soldiers fired into the crowd. The
bandits scrambled for cover and fired back. The battle only lasted for a few
minutes since the soldiers outnumbered them. Some of them were killed,
including the leader. The rest were taken captive. Jack was given a fat bonus
for his help in stopping the robberies.
Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack
were engaged in a number of scouting and guiding opportunities before the event
that would change Buffalo Bill’s life. Writer Ned Buntline, the dime novelist,
arrived at the fort. He wanted Buffalo Bill to come back East with him to
perform. Cody accepted his offer and asked Texas Jack to go with him.
In Chicago, Buffalo Bill
and Texas Jack rehearsed the lines they would say in their first play. While
there, Jack met Josephine Morlacci, the famous ballerina. She had introduced
the Can Can to America. She was also hired to be in the play and helped Jack
with his lines. He fell instantly in love with her.
The play opened on December
16, 1872. The play was enormously successful even though Buffalo Bill and Texas
Jack continuously flubbed their lines. The play had Indians, outlaws, beautiful
girls, horses, and the two famous scouts. From Chicago, the play went on to St.
Louis, Cincinnati, Rochester, Albany, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond,
Norfolk, Harrisburg, and finally Port Jervis, New York.
At the end of the season,
Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack parted company with Ned Buntline, as they felt he
had skimmed off too much of the profits. The two went back to guiding hunting
trips. But the following year they returned to New York, where they signed up
with a Major Burke to put together another Wild West show. They also convinced
Wild Bill Hickok to join them. While planning the new show, Texas Jack married
Josephine in Rochester, New York.
The next three years were
enormously successful. The show called “Scouts of the Plains” did well
everywhere it went. Jack began writing articles for the magazine “Spirit of the
Times,” about his various adventures. By that time Ned Buntline had also wrote
several dime novels about both Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack and the two were
becoming famous.
In 1880, Jack and his wife
journeyed to Leadville, Colorado. Supposedly he went there because the high
altitude and dry climate would be good for his failing health. Soon after his
arrival, Jack joined forces with the Tabor Light Cavalry. Tabor was the leading
citizen of the town and a wealthy mine owner. The cavalry was the local law
enforcement. Josephine opened up a dance studio for children.
But their happy life there
didn’t last long. In May, Jack caught a severe cold. It grew worse and turned
into pneumonia, then consumption. Finally he died on June 28, 1880. The Tabor
Opera House was used for his funeral. He was given a military send-off by the
Tabor Light Cavalry. His friends erected a simple wooden marker. In 1908,
Buffalo Bill visited Leadville and replaced the wooden marker with a permanent
granite one.
Clyde Champion Barrow
(Clyde Chesnut Barrow)
robber, murderer
Born: 3/21/1909
Birthplace: Telice, Texas
One half of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde duo, Clyde “Champion ” Barrow assisted his partner, Bonnie Parker, in a nationwide crime spree that lasted from 1932, until their deaths in 1934. The two met in West Dallas, Texas in January 1930, and after Clyde's parole from burglary charges in 1932 they began a nationwide campaign of crime. Together the pair committed 13 murders, numerous kidnappings, and several burglaries and robberies. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies engaged in one of the largest manhunts the United States had seen up to that time, capturing national attention. With most of their accomplices already dead or captured, Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed and killed instantly by a posse of lawmen led by Texas Ranger Frank Hamer near Sailes, Bienville Parish, Louisiana on May 23, 1934. Bonnie and Clyde's legacy of crime is remembered in the Warren Beatty movie Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which inspired other crime-spree films such as Natural Born Killers (1994)
Died: 5/23/1934
Bonnie Parker
robber, murderer
Born: 10/1/10
Birthplace: Rowena, Texas
One half of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde duo, Bonnie Parker assisted her partner, Clyde Barrow , in a nationwide crime spree that lasted from 1932 until their deaths in 1934. Already married to an imprisoned murderer, Bonnie met Clyde in West Dallas, Texas in January 1930. The pair combined to commit 13 murders, numerous kidnappings, and several burglaries and robberies. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies engaged in one of the largest manhunts the United States had seen up to that time, capturing national attention. With most of their accomplices already dead or captured, Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed and killed instantly by a posse of lawmen led by Texas Ranger Frank Hamer near Sailes, Bienville Parish, Louisiana. on May 23, 1934. Bonnie and Clyde's legacy of crime is remembered in the movie Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which inspired others, such as Natural Born Killers (1994)
Died: 5/23/34