Jim Baker | |
|---|---|
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Jim_Baker,_mountain_man,_65_years_of_age,_ca._1883.png) 65 years of age, ca. 1883 | |
| Born | December 19, 1818 |
| Died | May 15, 1898 (aged 79) |
| Resting place | Baker Cemetery, Savery, Carbon County, Wyoming |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Honest Jim Baker |
| Occupation(s) | frontiersman, trapper, hunter, fur trader, army scout, rancher |
| Employer | American Fur Company |
| Known for | Being a fur trapper and hunter, with Jim Bridger and Kit Carson, and a U.S. Army scout and Indian interpreter, for Generals William S. Harney, Albert S. Johnston, and George Custer |
| Spouses | Married to least three Native American women:
|
| Children | 14 |
Jim Baker (1818–1898), known as "Honest Jim Baker",[1] was a frontiersman, trapper, hunter, army scout, interpreter, and rancher. He was first a trapper and hunter. The decline of the fur trade in the early 1840s drove many trappers to quit, but Baker remained in the business until 1855. During that time he was a friend of Jim Bridger, Kit Carson and John C. Frémont. On August 21, 1841, he was among a group of twenty three trappers who were attacked by Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Sioux on what became known as Battle Mountain. After Henry Fraeb was killed, Baker organized the trappers against the Native Americans in a multiple-day fight.
While he was a trapper, he developed expertise as a guide, leader, marksman, and interpreter with Native Americans. He operated a ferry and trading post along the Green River. He served the military as a tracker and guide, including during the Mormon Utah War, following the Meeker Massacre, and during the Battle of the Rosebud in present day Big Horn County, Montana.
He had at least three Native American wives and fourteen children. He homesteaded on what is now Clear Creek near Denver on July 3, 1859. The area became known as Baker's Crossing, and he established several businesses there. He raised cattle, operated a stone coal (anthracite) mine, a toll bridge on the Denver Boulder Wagon Road, and a store operated by two of his wives. In 1873, Baker built a cabin with a guard tower near the Little Snake River in Wyoming, where he raised livestock until his death in 1898. His cabin is currently on display at the Little Snake River Museum in Savery, Wyoming. Baker's grave is marked with a stone at Baker Cemetery near Savery.