Cullen Baker

Cullen Montgomery Baker (June 23, 1835 – January 1869), was a Tennessee-born Texas and Arkansas desperado whose gang is alleged to have killed hundreds of people including former slaves during the early days of the American Old West, in the years following the Civil War. However, these numbers are probably inaccurate, and the actual number to fifty or sixty.

Baker was notorious for fighting in saloon brawls and his fiery temper. During one fight, he was knocked unconscious by a man named Morgan Culp, who hit him in the head with a tomahawk. This seemed to have shocked him into behaving, and it calmed his temper at least for a while. Baker has also been described as an earlier version of a gunfighter, though his preferred weapon was actually a double-barrel shotgun.

Baker was born in Weakley County, Tennessee, a son of John Baker and his wife. Soon after that his family moved to Clarksville, Arkansas, and as Cullen Baker matured he spent much of his time in the saloons and bars in now Lafayette and Miller Counties. His father was a honest farmer, and owned cattle as well as working in the fields. Even when young Cullen Baker is said to have had a quick temper, which was revealed as he got older, as he drank heavily and often.

On January 11, 1854 in Cass County, Texas Baker married Martha Jane Petty, and for a time he settled. Martha Jane Petty was the daughter of Hubbard and Nancy Petty. However, eight months into his marriage, while out drinking with friends, he became involved in a verbal altercation with a youth named Stallcup. Baker became enraged, grabbed a whip, and beat the boy to near death. There were several witnesses to the incident, and Baker was soon charged with the crime. One of the witnesses, Wesley Bailey, was confronted by Baker at Bailey's home. Baker shot him in both legs with a shotgun, then left him lying in front of his house. Bailey died a few days later. Before he could be arrested for the murder, Baker fled to Arkansas, where he stayed with an uncle. On May 24, 1857, Martha Jane Baker gave birth to a baby girl, Louisa Jane. On June 2, 1860, Martha Jane Baker died. Cullen Baker then returned to Texas, where he left his daughter with his in-laws.

...
Wikipedia