Baker would lead the entire gang to its downfall. Rames defied Baker and Baker backed down, leading to the gang breaking up. All but one gang member, "Dummy" Kirby, sided with Rames. Baker and Kirby rode to Bloomburg, Texas and the home of Baker's in-laws in January 1869. It was there that Cullen Baker and "Dummy" Kirby were killed. The exact circumstances of their deaths, however, remain unclear. There are at least two conflicting accounts: First version: Unknown to Baker, his wife Martha Foster's father and friends had laced a bottle of whiskey and some food with strychnine. Kirby and Baker drank and ate it, and both died from poisoning. Their bodies were then shot several times by Foster and some friends. Second version: A local schoolteacher named Thomas Orr had become involved romantically with Baker's second wife Martha, and led a small band of men who ambushed Baker and Kirby at the Foster home, shooting and killing them near to the chimney of the house. It is known that a schoolteacher named Thomas Orr was a friend of the in-laws who took part in the killing of Baker; whether the story of the affair is true is unknown. What both versions share is the end result. Baker and Kirby were killed at the Foster home, with both shot numerous times, and then the bodies were dragged through the town of Bloomburg. The bodies were taken to the U.S. Army outpost near Jefferson, where they were placed on public display. Baker is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Jefferson, Texas. The town of Bloomburg, Texas continues to commemorate the event with the annual Cullen Baker Country Fair, held the first weekend in November. Proceeds benefit the Bloomburg City’s efforts to build a city park and revive tourism since the COVID-19 pandemic. Possible eyewitness to Baker's death A reference to Cullen (Col) Baker is made by former slave Doc Quinn in the Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States - From Interviews with Former Slaves - Arkansas Narratives, Part 6. Doc Quinn provides a somewhat different perspective on Cullen Baker throughout. The statements of Doc Quinn are recorded as follows: "He wuz mah frien' as long as he lib, and he wuz a good frien' ob de South 'cause he saved lots ob white folks frum de wrath ob de mean niggers." (sic) Doc Quinn provides an account