'tection. 'Colonel' Baker wuz a great and brave man and did mo' fo de
white folks of dis country den any other man. Why iffen it hadn't been
fo' him de white folks couldn't hab lived in dis country, de negroes wuz
so mean. Dey wuz so mean dat dey tied heavy plow shoes aroun' de necks
ob two little white boys and threw dem in de lake. Yes suh. I wuz dere."

"And another time I wuz wid a bunch of niggers when dey wuz plannin' on
killin a white man who wuz a friend ob mine. As soon as I could I slips
away and tips him off. When I got back one ob dem niggers looks at me
suspicious like and asks, "where yo been, nigger?" I wuz shakin' like a
leaf in a storm, but I says: "I ain't been nowhere--just went home to
get some cartridges to help kill dis white man."

"Not long after I jined Colonel Baker's Gang, we wuz comin' frum Fulton
to Clipper through de Red River bottoms. De river wuz overflowin' an' as
we wuz crossin' a deep, swift slough, Colonel Baker and his horse got
tangled up in some grape vines. Colonel Baker yelled, and I turned my
mule around and cut all de grape vine loose wid my Bowie knife. Dere
ain't nothin' like a mule for swimmin'. Dey can swim circles aroun' any
horse. As long as he lived, Colonel Baker was always grateful to me fo'
savin' his life."

"De Colonel hated de sight ob mean niggers. We would ride up to a negro
settlement, and tell de niggers we wuz organizing a colored militia to
catch Cullen Baker and his gang. Most ob de negroes would join, but some
ob dem had to be encouraged by Colonel Baker's big gun. De recruits
would be lined up in an open field fo' drilling. And dey sho wuz
drilled. Colonel Baker and his men would shoot them by the score. Dey
killed 53 at Homan, Arkansas, 86 at Rocky Comfort, (Foreman) Arkansas, 6
near Ogden, Arkansas, 6 on de Temple place, 62 at Jefferson, Texas, 100