History: Jim Baker, Scout, Trapper

On June 17, 1876, two weeks before the Custer Fight, The Battle of the Rosebud took place near Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory. The battle was between the General Crook’s forces and the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. Involved in the battle were the army’s Crow and Shoshone scouts, as well as the old-time trapper turned army scout, Jim Baker. Although much of Baker’s ventures were in the southern part of the state, he did come into our area as well. And, without the trappers, mountain men and early explorers, our state would not be what it is today.

Here is some of Baker’s story.

The Daily Boomerang, June 9, 1893 –Old Time Character. Jim Baker. Compatriot of Kit Carson and Others. Fighting the Indians, Old Scout relates the history of the West. He came to this Country in 1838. Jim Baker old frontiersman, and scout, who is known to all the old residents of this section of Wyoming, is spending a few days in Denver, and the newspapers of that city have been giving him special attention. A history of his life and adventures would fill many columns.

For many years he lived on Clear creek, (Colorado) at Baker’s crossing, but in 1878 he moved over on Snake River, just south of the Wyoming line. The old man is now 74, but he is hale and hearty, stands erect, and with an eyesight so unimpaired that he can still handle a rifle with unerring aim.

The News says of him: “Old Jim Baker, trapper, scout, frontiersman, compatriot of Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and Tom Fitzgerald who piloted Albert Ridney Johnson’s army in its campaign against the Danites and who was the guide of Col. Chivington’s 1st Colorado cavalry in their famous raid against the Arapahoe and Cheyennes, has ventured from a six years seclusion in his tepee on the banks of the Snake river in Routt county, and is spending a few days in Denver.

“Since the death of his dearest friend and companion, Maj. D. C. Oakes, in 1886, he has shunned civilization and has now left his retirement only to attempt to save the life of his son, who is suffering from a disease demanding the highest medical skill. “Beaten and buffeted by the mountain blasts of fifty-eight winters, bearing from the aureole of chestnut hair in which the silver threads are only thinly scattered, to the feet clothed in moccasins, indelible scars of numberless struggles with Indians and grizzlies, Jim linker carries his 76 years with the ease of a youth of 29.

“When found in his room in the Sheridan house he greeted his visitor with a warm grasp of the hand and a hearty “Take a chair and set down and make yerself comfortable. He is extremely modest and has heretofore refused to talk of his life, and experiences for publication. This time he relented, however, and for two hours he went back in spirit to the old days when the red man and the trapper fought over the mountain beaver and hunted the wild buffalo where Denver now stands.

“When I came to this country in ’38,’ said the old man. ‘there wasn’t a settler from the Arkansas to old Fort Bridger. I was a kid of 18 and one of the recruits the American Fur company sent from St. Louis to join its trappers and hunters in the region then known as the Blackfoot country, now the state of Montana. In those days no one but the few old mountaineers knew anything of the Indian tribes that inhabited the region, their speech or mode of warfare. We were all greenhorns, but it didn’t take, long to get onto things and when we did get our eye teeth cut we held our own pretty well against the hostiles.

“We were divided into companies, each under a boss or captain, and sent into different localities to trap beaver, which, were then worth $5 to $6 a pound. Our party usually consisted of French Canadians and Americans, the former predominating. Old Captain Dripps used to say: “Give me two Frenchmen to one American. I can manage the Frenchmen, but you fellows get too all-fired independent.” The boss could knock a”Frenchy” down with the butt of his pistol when he got mad at him, but it was dangerous work to try it on an American. 11

“‘From our rendezvous we went out usually in pairs and would sometimes be away for weeks. We always had to be on the lookout for Indians, and when we ran against any it was either a fight or afoot race. They usually waited until we would camp at night before making the attack. Our favorite method, if we got onto them, was to build a roaring camp fire and while they were waiting for it to die down sneak off in the darkness. “

“‘They seldom attacked us at the rendezvous, but I remember one time in August, ’41, when we were earned in the White River country, on our way to Arizona, about 700 Cheyennes, Sioux and Arapahoes descended upon us and tried to run off our horses. They charged us twenty times, but we drove them back every time. We killed sixty warriors, and the next day they went away. 1 was in at the slaughter of three villages of Mohaves in Arizona in ’44, and was there when we wiped out villages of Blackfeet and Bannocks in the Green River country in ’48 and the Southern Utes below Taos several years later. This was all done in revenge for the murder of trappers and scouts “I Baker piloted Johnston’s army to Utah in 50 and panned gold out of Cherry Creek on his way there.

When John Evans was territorial governor Jim was his official interpreter. His long and intimate acquaintance with Sioux, Blackfeet, Shoshones, Arapahoes, Utes, Mohaves, Apache and all the other tribes had made him master of their tongues. He was employed as government scout during the war of the rebellion and also with Col. Chivington in the famous Indian campaign. He was the intimate of all the scouts, trappers and Indian Fighters of the early days and his history would fill volumes. He finds a few old friends in the city who welcomed him after his long seclusion, and he will return to his home on the Yampa as soon as he can get away. He does not take to civilization and is not happy in the bustle and turmoil of a city.

In 1873, Jim Baker built a two-story cabin by hand at age 55 near the present town of Savery, Wyoming, near the Colorado border. In 1916, the Cabin was purchased for $500 from Baker’s heirs and was moved via wagons and the train to Cheyenne. In 1976, the cabin was moved back to near its original location, and currently stands on the grounds at the Little Snake River Museum in Savery, Wyoming. It has almost as interesting a history as it’s builder.

Wyoming Tribune (Cheyenne), March 1, 1917 – Jim Baker Cabin To Be Carted 40 Miles – DIXON, Wyo., Mar. 1.— Work on the removal of the Jim Baker cabin is progressing rapidly and soon the historic landmark will be moved from the valley. During the last ten days Charles Boyce, county assessor of Rawlins has been superintending the work of tearing down the log structure and preparing for the fifty-mile trip to the railroad. The cabin is much heavier than was anticipated, the logs being well preserved. The cabin weighs nearly 22,000 pounds and several teams will be required to transport it to the railroad. It is said that the cabin will be set up at Cheyenne within the next month.

The Sheridan Enterprise, March 6, 1917 – Jim Baker Cabin Moved To CheyenneCheyenne, WY Mar 5— The Jim Baker cabin was shipped from Wamsutter yesterday, according to Information received by J. Thompson. Jr., at the statehouse from Charles B. Boyce. It is expected to arrive in Cheyenne sometime today. The cabin of the famous pioneer of Wyoming and Colorado, will be re-stored to its original atmosphere in Pioneer Park. It is probable that some sort of ceremonies will be held when it is re-erected in the park. Baker was one of the first white men who came to this country. He became famous as a scout and Indian fighter and the cabin being brought here was one of the first the built in the region.

Buffalo hide ‘bull boat’ in the Jim Baker Cabin.

Cheyenne State Leader, June 7, 1917 – Jim Baker Cabin is Re-Erected – The Jim Baker cabin is erected and stands at the gate of the (Frontier) park This cabin will be dedicated the first day of the show. It is typical frontier cabin, made of squared logs which were hewn by hand from the trees by the builder of the cabin, Jim Baker. Baker was one of the earliest settlers in Wyoming, and the cabin was built not only for a residence for the pioneer, but also for a place of refuge against the Indians.

It contains two large rooms, separated by a log partition. The east and west sides of the cabin are built as additions. The center part of the building is two stories high. There will be no floor in the cabin, as there was none where it stood on the original site. The task of hewing logs down thin enough for floor boards did not appear to Baker as necessary as it was too far to bring them in, therefore the cabin had a dirt floor on the lower story. The logs were, never painted, and have taken on the same grey, weather resisting surface that pine fence posts acquire in this Western country. There are initials cut in the logs, a very long time ago Nobody knows who the men who cut them there are, nor where they went, except that in “passin’ through” they stopped, and cut their initials In the side of Jim Baker’s cabin.

Jim Baker, one of the intrepid explorers who explored and settled this country when it was the wild frontier.

The Little Snake River Museum, where the cabin stands, is home to over 15 historic buildings and many exhibits that depicting the rich history of the secluded valley. It is open during the summer Friday-Sunday from 10-4.

All photos by C Vannoy, taken at the Little Snake River Museum, Savery, Wyoming, with thanks.