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Summary

George Wythe Baylor (August 24, 1832-March 17, 1916) was a Texas Ranger, soldier, and colonel. He was best known as being a Texas Ranger who tracked down Apache Indians. He tracked them through Texas and Mexico. Baylor was able to gain the trust of the Mexican government and the people. Baylor was elected from El Paso to serve in the Texas State House of Representatives as well as served as the clerk of the district and the circuit courts for a good number of years. He died on March 17, 1916.

Early Life

George Wythe Baylor was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma in Cherokee Nation He was the son of John Walker and Sophie Marie Baylor. George. He had 8 brothers and sisters. They moved to Natchez, Mississippi, George Wythe Baylor lost his father when he was two years old. Baylor’s family moved around a lot, they moved to Pine Bluff, and Little Rock, Arkansas. In his teenage years, he moved to Texas to live with his brother John Robert Baylor who lived in Ross Prairie which is near La Grange, Texas. Baylor went to Rutersville College and with the influence of his uncle R.E.B, he attended Baylor University in Independence Texas.

Work-Life

Baylor had many jobs throughout his life and could never keep one down. He worked in San Antonio as a clerk at the Commissary Department of the U.S. Army at the Alamo. In 1854, Baylor decided to move to California due to having a gold fever. In 1856, he ended up in San Francisco and became a member of the Vigilance Committee. He sent letters back home, that he couldn’t find steady employment or even strike rich in the goldfields. In 1859 he moved back to Texas to live with his brother in Weatherford. Baylor and his brother joined the Confederate Army. On June 5, 1860, with his brother, he, and others chased down a party of Indian raiders on Paint Creek in Parker County. When they captured the Indians, they scalped 9 of them. After that, he was commissioned to a first lieutenant in Company H of the second Cavalry. Late in the summer (August or September 1861) he served as a regimental adjutant. this was before he resigned to be a senior aide-de-camp to General Albert Sidney Johnston. He was the first to raise the Confederate flag in Austin.

Soldier Life

At the battle of Shiloh, Tennessee (April 6, 1862), Baylor returned to Texas and was elected to be lieutenant colonel and commander of the second Battalion of Henry H. Sibley's army. The Battalion merged with the Second Cavalry regiment of the Arizona Brigade; he was elected as a colonel. Baylor commanded a regiment of cavalry during the Red River campaign (1864). Baylor was commended for gallantry at the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. Baylor got into a quarrel with a fellow staff officer John Austin Wharton. They argued over military matters, it is stated that "Wharton reportedly slapped Baylor's face and called him a liar" This caused Baylor to pull out his revolver and shot Wharton. Baylor killed Wharton on April 6, 1865, at the Fannin Hotel in Galveston Texas. This will be with him for the rest of his life.

'''Texas Ranger

Baylor was commissioned to a second lieutenant and commanded Company C, Frontier Battalion of the Texas Rangers in El Paso. This was because Lt. John B. Tay’s resigned to enter the customs service. Baylor, his wife, 2 daughters, and sister-in-law all pack up their household goods and put them in wagons. They left San Antonio on August 2, 1879, they were guarded by Sgt. James B. Gillett and 5 other rangers. It took them 42 days on the road to Ysleta, this is where he established his headquarters in 1879. Baylor opened a campaign against raiding Apaches. Who he pursued beyond the Rio Grande. He used local guides and worked closely with Mexican authorities. For the rest of 1879 and most of 1880, Baylor and his ranger along with the U.S. Tenth Cavalry were on the pursuit for Mescalero Apache chief Victorio and his band of Apaches. September 1880 Baylor was transferred and promoted to the captain of Company A. January 1881, a small band of Apache raiders attacked a stagecoach in Quitman Canyon. Baylor and his rangers followed a cold trail and were able to track the Apaches down to the bank of the Rio Grande in Mexico. Following the tracks, they found items that were taken from the stagecoach. The trail that they were following ended up in Texas again where they found a fresh campsite left. As they were following the trail it lead into the Eagle Mountains where they stumbled upon another fresh campsite. Baylor's rangers met up with Lt. Nevill's rangers, where they tracked together. Baylor befriended the Tigua scouts who helped him find the tribe. They found the Apaches campsite; a fight broke out on January 29, in the early morning. This fight, though small, has come down through history as the last Indian battle in Texas. In 1882 Baylor was promoted to major along with given command of several ranger companies. Baylor was active in the fence-cutting conflict in Nolan County. In 1885 due to budget cuts his Company A was disbanded. He resigned from ranger service the same year.

'''Life After Being a Texas Ranger

In 1885, he was elected from El Paso to serve in the Texas State House of Representatives as well as served as the clerk of the district and the circuit courts for a good number of years. Baylor lived in Mexico from 1898 to 1913. In 1913, Baylor returned to San Antonio, Texas. Baylor died on March 17, 1916, at the age of 83. He is buried in the Confederate Cemetery in San Antonio, TX.

References

“Col George Wythe Baylor (1832-1916) - Find A Grave...” Find a Grave. Accessed October 7, 2020. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22483/george-wythe-baylor.

Cutrer, Thomas W. “Baylor, George Wythe (1832–1916).” Accessed October 7, 2020. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/baylor-george-wythe.

“GEORGE WYTHE BAYLOR (1832-1916).” Accessed November 17, 2020. http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/chron/civilwarnotes/baylor.html. “Tigua Scouts as Texas Rangers.” Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, 2006. http://www.tiguatrails.org/tigua_trails.sstg?id=16.