James Louis & Eleanor Austin Baker

James “Jim” Louis Baker (1829-1903) and Eleanor “Ellen” Prather Austin Baker (1839-1909) married in Travis County on June 15, 1859. Jim’s family had moved to Texas from Tennessee during the Republic, and Ellen’s family had moved to Travis County from Missouri. Jim’s father, James H. Baker, registered the “Baker B” cattle brand in Travis County in 1836, and the family acquired cattle and wealth. In 1856, Jim and his brother George moved 6000 head of cattle from Travis County to the newly formed San Saba County, and within 5 years the herd had multiplied significantly. In 1861, while traveling from Austin to the Baker home in San Saba, Jim, Ellen, their daughter Olga, and Ellen’s father were attacked in Lampasas County by members of the Comanche tribe, and Jim was wounded by multiple arrows. He recovered but was unable to assume active duty during the Civil War. After the war, Jim and George operated as the Baker Brothers, with branded cattle ranging from the head of the San Saba River to Onion Creek in Travis County, a distance of 150 miles. To avoid cattle raids, they soon moved cattle from Texas to open lands near Trinidad, Colorado, and by 1871 had moved at least three herds there using the Goodnight-Loving Trail. The brothers registered their own brand, the “Lazy F,” in 1873, and by 1878 were ready to move some of the herd to the Quitaque Peaks region of Northwest Texas, establishing the Quitaque Ranch. In January 1880, Jim and George negotiated the sale of their 140,000-acre Quitaque Ranch, 20,000 cattle, and the Lazy F brand to Charles Goodnight for Cornelia and John Adair. The Bakers then returned to San Saba and resumed ranching on a limited scale, and both Jim and Ellen died at their home in Baker Valley.

San Saba, Texas · United States