Lang, H. O., ed.  "The History of the Willamette Valley, Being A Description 
of the Valley and its Resources, with an account of its Discovery and 
Settlement by White Men, and its Subsequent History; Together with Personal 
Reminiscences of its Early Pioneers."  Portland, OR, Geo. H. Himes, Book and 
Job Printer, 1885.  p. 612.

JOHN G. BAKER

     Born in Hopkins County, Kentucky, in 1818.  At the age of nineteen he
emigrated to Missouri.  Two years later he married Catherine Blevins, the mother
of his present family of four children -- William D., Morgan A., Mary A., and
Aville L.  He set out with his family for Oregon along with the important
immigration of 1843.  With the party were one hundred and twelve wagons drawn by
oxen, making a very imposing train, which was six months on the way, and
obtained all the usual experiences attendant upon that long an arduous journey.
Arriving in Oregon, Mr. Baker became the first settler between "the two
Yamhills."  In the early year of his residence he was troubled somewhat by the
depredations of mischievous Indians, who killed his stock and made themselves
detested and feared.  Mr. Baker, unwilling to endure such ills, raised a company
of volunteers and pursuing the ravagers gained a decisive victory over them,
killing two of the miscreants and removing from the others any desire to brave
the white man's wrath.  Mr. B. became sheriff of Yamhill County under the
Provisional Government.  This position he held for four years, and when the
Territorial Government was organized by General Lane, his appointment was
continued for an additional term of two years.  While performing the duties of
sheriff in the new and unorganized region, he gained many unique experiences.
For example:  He narrates how, when in charge of the first jury impanelled at
Lafayette, he asked instructions of the presiding judge as to where he should
take them to deliberate, the judge replied with a touch of humor born of much
experience with domestic animals, "Stake out the foreman, and I guess the others
will stay around."  This learned judge was A. A. Skinner, a very useful and
careful judge and, withal, an exemplary citizen, who became Indian agent at a
later date, and was for a time settled in Rogue River Valley on the first
donation land claim ever taken in that beautiful region.  In 1852 one McCormack
was tried, found guilty and sentenced to three years' imprisonment for an
infamous crime.  The trial occurred at Lafayette, and from lack of either a
county jail or a State penitentiary, the judge remanded the convict to the care
of the sheriff, to be kept until the county commissioners could meet and make
provision for his imprisonment.  Private instructions were given that in case
the commissioners did not act, that the prisoner should be allowed to take
French leave.  this course was followed and the guilty man escaped.  Such was
the course of justice in the early days, where the absence of courts and the
machinery of the law made it impossible to properly punish crime.  Mr. Baker now
resides at McMinnville.  He is the proprietor of a square mile of valuable land,
in the immediate vicinity of the town, of the richest and most productive
quality.

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in June 2005 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.