Cullen Baker - The Civil War and After

The Civil War and After

Baker served with the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, 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.