The daily tribune., 1908-12-14
A poueHrY PIONEER.


in kuu coun;y. there pAesed Away
one Of the few men whose life Wal
more thrilling. more adventurous than
even Fennimore Cooper has boer
able to picture. For . score of year.
he lived among the Indians. hunted
in the pathless forests of the north
and west, wandered over the endless
stretches Of prairie, endured countless
hardships and braved the greatest
dangers. He was familiarly known
and highly respected by the Utes.
Arapahoes and Cheyennes. When the
Pixies Peak immigration poured its
long columns into Denver he came
here occasionally. but only for brief
visits. He found the ways Of oivili-
zation were not his way, SO he re-
turned soon again to his ranch in the
mountains.
north in 1890 and came to Colorado
in 1888 A tenth of his adventures
would fill great volume. Four
times he took wife from among the
Indians and once came near paying
for squaw with his life. For sever
al years he was hunted by the Utes
and marked for torture and death the
moment he fell into their hands. A
dozen times he escaped their ven-
geance by mere chance. 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 evading hostile red
skins and the number Of his person
al encounters with beasn and men
and wars with Indians was evidence
by mass of scars on his grizzled
body from head to foot.
In 1857 Baker acted as scout for
Captain Msrcey's troops which went
into Utah to fight the Mormons.
They stole march on Marcy and
drove off all his horses and mules,
taking a greater share Of the provi.
sions. The men we're in = desperate
condition. Baker offered to cross the
main range and come to Fort Gar.
land in the San Luis valley for relief.
1t WAS was early in December and the
snow on the range was from two to
forty feet deep Baker started to
work his way straight across the
range He became worn ont and near
ly famished. In descending the range
he became so exhausted that he was
forced to give up and would have
perished had not a little band Of Ute
Indians found and cared for him.
Had they recognized him he would
have been killed because the Utes had
marked him for revenge. but they did
not and he succeeded In reaching the
fort In safety.
In 1869 Baker had the side Of his
face torn of by the explosion of =
rife. 1t happened In q camp of In.
dians, twenty miles from Denver.
The agent had distributed lot Of
rifle cartridges among the Indians IN
the camp and Baker succeeded in get.
ting hold Of one. As he tried to fire
it the cartridges they exploded
and blew 1t into pieces. One half Of
his face was torn to shleds and his
right jaw hung by a small piece.
without u complaint and all the time
conscious. he stood the ride to Den l..
yer and was taken to the Office of DR..
Strobe on Larimer street.. DR.. Strobe
fixed up the jaw by the use Of hard
wood pins and sewed 1t up. Three
months afterwards Baker had entirely
recovered.
Another story has been often told
of Baker aud companions fight with
two cub bears The bears were about
year old and Baker and his friend
laid aside their guns and attacked the
bears with no other weapons than
knives. They had = tough struggle
but Baker finally killed his bear then
turned in and killed the other bear,
which was getting entirely the best
Of the fight with his partner After.
wards Baker told us that he would
not tarkle sucl varYni,t. .OsIp u,i n