Cullen Baker, Texas Outlaw
when he came out of hiding to kill W. G. Kirkman, the man who had shot him in the arm. A few days later, he and his gang killed J. P. Anderson and H. F. Willis.
Colonel R. Phillip Crump, a former officer of the Confederacy, heard that Baker was back at his old tricks. He wanted to try to convince him to leave the country. A conversation between the two actually did take place near Texarkana on November 14, 1868. Baker promised he would leave the country in a few days.
Just when he was fixing to settle down, he heard of a black man who had been boasting that he knew where Baker's hiding place was. Somehow this triggered his temper, and he began riding around on another killing spree. One of the man killed was Jim Salmons, the man who had killed Seth Rames. He killed the black man who had boasted of knowing his hiding place. He killed a man named George W. Barron for participating in the man hunt the previous year.
Then Baker rode to his father-in-law's house, where he took him, Old Joe Davis, and Tom Orr prisoner. Tom Orr was hanged from a tree. Unbeknownst to Baker, Orr was still alive when his long-time lieutenant Lee Rames cut him down. The outlaws rode on with their other two prisoners. When they reached Bright Star they let Foster and Davis go.
In December 1868, Baker and Rames went separate ways. Almost all of the men went with Rames. Only Dummy Kirby went with Baker. In January, the two headed back to Foster's house. Tom Orr saw them coming and went for help. By the time they reached Foster's house, Baker and Kirby were already dead. Foster had laced his whiskey with strychnine. Kirby died when he ate some spare ribs also laced with strychnine. Each of the men standing nearby fired numerous gunshots into the dead bodies. The bodies were then taken to the U.S. Army barracks at Jefferson, where they were put on public display.
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