Omaha daily bee., 1898-06-19
PASSING OF A NOTED TRAPPER
A Frontiersman Who Ranked Second Only to
Kit Carson.
LIFE STORY or A FAMOUS SCOUT
Jim Baker succumbs TO Age in the
Fastnesscs of n west-His
First visit to the E~nst-some
of His adventures

wien JIM bHheT uleu HI MS nome on the 7
Snake river, in northern Colorado, a few
days ago, one OF the most famous trappers,
scouts and fontiersmen the west has ever
produced passed away. For nearly seventy
years, relates the Chicago Record, Jim Baker
had been a noted figure in the west and of
all the hardy men who aided in opening up
the wilderness Kit Carson alone was better
known.
Baker was nearly 30 years old at the time
of his death. He came west from Illinois,
which. was his birthplace, when only IS
years old. He came in 1880. as an employee
Of the American Fur Trading company at
Laramie, Wyo., and from that time until
his death he lived on the plains and In the
mountains. He was a scout for several
expeditions-notably for John c. Fremont
and for General Adams in the Ute war after
the Meeker massacre. His comrades were
the men who first went through this part
Of the United States after the expedition of
Lewis and Clark in 1903, 1904 and 1905.
One OF them-Gabriel Lajeunesse, always
called by the men of the plains, Gabriel
Lajeeneese-was, tradition says, the hero of
Longfellow's "Evangeline." Basil, An
tome and Nicholas Lajeunesse were his sons.
Other of Bakers contemporaries were Peter
Ogden, who gave his name to Ogden, Utah;
Kit Carson, another man whose name APP
pears on the map Of the country, and Max
well of Maxwell land grant fame.
Coming into the country when there were
no white women within 600 or 700 miles,
Baker married Indian women. He lived for
years among the Cheyenne, Arapahoe and
Ute Indians, adopted their dress, conformed
to their customs, entered their councils and
spoke their languages.
Baker lived a life that was more thrilling,
more adventurous than even a Cooper has
been able to picture. For a score of years
he lived among the Indians, hunted in the
painless forests Of the north and west.
wandered over the endless stretches of
prairie, endured countless hardships and
braved the greatest dangers.
All this was before the time of the pio-
neers, who date their arrival from 1858. A
tenth of his adventures would fill a great
volume. Four times he took a wife from
among the Indians, and once he came near
paying for a squaw with his life. For sew
eral years he was hunted by the Utes and
was marked for torture and death the mo-
ment that he should fall into their hands.
A dozen times he escaped their vengeance.
Several times he was snowbound in the
mountains in the dead Of winter and nearly
starved. Much of his time for many years
was spent in evading hostile redskins, and
the number of his personal encounters with
wild beasts and with wilder whites and
Indians was evidenced by the mass of scars
on his grizzled body.
Two Men Who Antedate Baker.
Today there are only two men living who
were In the west before Baker. They are
Thomas Tobin, now at Fort Garland, Colo,
who came to the territory that is now
Colorado one year before Baker, and John
Alberts, now living at Walsenburg, Colo,
who came west in 1928.
In the SOS Baker fretted greatly over the
coming of the white settlers. He owned a
ranch on Clear creek, just north of the pres
ent city of Denver. This he sold in 1871
and moved up Bear creek, where he re-
manned for some time. Then he settled in
the extreme northern part Of Routt county
200 miles from Denver. Here he built a
shack and lived in the utmost simplicity
until his death. His last wife was a squaw
Of the Snake tribe. BY her he had two
children, a boy and a girl, now living in
Salt Lake City. Several years ago the
squaw left Baker and returned to her tribe
!, There is one story that Baker drove he,
away and another that she deserted him
The squaw with whom he lived before the
last, died and is buried on the banks o.
Clear creek above Denver. There were
:. several children of this marriage.
The first eight years OF Bakers life in the
q west were spent in trapping in the north fol
the fur company, but in 1910 he left the
employ of the company and hunted and
, trapped on his own account.
. The Utes were extremely hostile to the
whites, but Baker succeeded in getting or
4 very friendly terms with Ignacio, then
young war chief. Baker induced a sistel
of Ignacio's to leave the tribe with him
1gnacio swore vengeance and for a Ions
a time Rakpr was in pppafapt faar Loot ,a.~.
G Ute should take him unawares. Finally tn,
squaw returned to her tribe and for hi
own safety Baker joined the Sioux Indian.
and became a Sioux squaw man. Afterwart
he left the Sioux for the Cheyennes and ais,
n lived for a time with the Arapahoes.
d Bakers Work as a Scout.
There are incidents without number fol,
of Baker by old pioneers. In 1857 Bake
+ acted as scout for Captain Marcey's expedi
ton, which went into Utah to drive out tn
Mormons. The Mormons stole a march OF
,e Marcy and drove off all his horses an,
mules, taking a greater share of the pro
1t visions. The men were in a desperate con
dition. Baker offered to cross the mai
le range to Fort Garland for relief. It wa
re early in December and the snow on tn
is range was from two to forty feet deer
Baker started to work his way straigb
lie aSios II IduBt' i DeCdUl0 worn out an
nearly famished, In descending the rang
he became SO exhausted that he was force
to give up; he would have persisted had nc
l. a band of Ute Indians found him and care
ne for him. Had they recognized him h
OF would have been killed, because the Ute
IN had marked him for death; he succeeded /
ny reaching the fort in safety, securing tn
III necessary relief.
lis At another time Baker was camped alon
p in one end of a canyon with a party
white Lien camped below him. About
ba O'Clock in the morning Baker awoke, can
he down to the camp and warned them
N. hurry to a place where they could defen
ed themselves. He said he felt that red me
es were going to attack them. Two houl
no afterward a war band OF bucks descende
I ~ on the camp, which by that time had bee
80 vacated.
XIV In 1861 Baker, with Jim Beckwith, toe
up a ranch where Capitol hill, Denver, no
by exists. Beckwith was a mulatto and for
n long time chief of the Crow Indians. /
RS was BORN at st. Charles, Mo, In 1898. al
10 came west in 1918, The braves had new,