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.

One of the most colorful figures of the Old West, Jim Baker worked as a trapper, scout, explorer, guide, soldier, rancher, and mine owner during his lifetime. He was a friend of Jim Bridger and Kit Carson and one of General John C. Fremont’s favorite scouts.

In 1855, Baker, along with several other mountain men, arrived at Fort Laramie and spent considerable time drawing maps for the military with Lieutenant Warren.

Jan 2, 2015 · On Aug. 21, 1841, Baker and another man were hunting across the river from Fraeb’s camp. When they saw the ominous sign of a rising cloud of dust in the mountains, they rushed to the camp. They soon became engaged in a fierce fight with Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho. Fraeb was one of the first killed. Baker is credited with taking charge after that.

Jim Baker, of Scotch-Irish descent, was born in Illinois in 1818. As a young man, he traveled on foot to St. Louis, Missouri, where he met Jim Bridger. Baker signed a contract with the American Fur Company to join a trapping expedition, marking the beginning of a new adventure.

Sep 23, 2023 · A young trapper named Jim Baker, freshly returned to his beloved mountain west from his home state of Illinois, had just downed a couple of buffalo cows with a fellow trapper history has recorded only as Vandusor.

Born in Illinois in 1818, Jim Baker is remembered as the last mountain man of the West. His westward adventures began in 1839 when, at the age of 21, he joined Jim Bridger as a hunter/trapper with the American Fur Company.

Less than a year after his return, Baker again ventured into the Rocky Mountain region, where he began his life as a mountain man. His life in the Colorado wilderness became legendary, and almost any heroic exploit that can be named was attributed to Baker.

Jun 22, 2024 · William Stocks of Dixon inherited mountain man Jim Baker’s sword from his father, whose grandmother was given it by Baker himself. Last Monday, Stocks donated it to the Little Snake River Museum and now everyone can see it.

James Baker, usually known as Jim Baker, was a late comer to the fur trade. He is reported to have been tall and lean, in later years wearing a goatee and his reddish hair was allowed to grow long and hang in ringlets.