Accident with a Gun

Trapper Jim Baker was seriously hurt while practicing shooting.

Jim Baker was one of the great pioneers, explorers, trappers and hunters of the West. It all required him to be a crack shot. That led to a terrible accident in 1858. While practicing with his rifle, the magazine exploded, which injured his face and blew his right thumb off its hand. His lips, tongue, chin, and teeth were lacerated. He was also injured in the chest and his right lung. The injury occurred along Cherry Creek, about 20 miles from present-day Denver, where he was taken and was treated by a surgeon.