Walter Wallis Baker was born on October 14, 1935 in Trigg County, Kentucky, the third of four children born to Clyde Edward Baker and Edna Mae Wallis. He had two older sisters, Martha Louise, born in 1928 and Elizabeth Jane born in 1933 and one older brother, Joe Ricks, born in 1940.
Walter lived in the Trigg and Christian County area for most of his life. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served during the Korean conflict. Walter married three times. His first wife was Norma Maxine Yates whom he married in 1954. They were the parents of two sons, Richard Wayne, born in 1955 and Andrew Clyde, born in 1961. In 1962, Walter married his second wife, Barbara Ann Stokes and they were the parents of a daughter, Christina Louse, born in 1964. Walter married again in 1978 to Beverly Tash Nave, a native of New York. Walter was an accountant and operated his own business in Hopkinsville known as the Baker Accounting Service.
In late 1985, Walter and Beverly began working on an idea to create a commemorative park in Hopkinsville, to encourage interest in a tragic event known as the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears was a route taken primarily by Cherokee Indians when they were forced to migrate from the southeast to Oklahoma. A part of the trail was through Hopkinsville and Christian County. The Bakers wanted to designate the Trail as a National Historic Trail in tribute to the importance of Native American Indians to the local history and culture with special emphasis on the Cherokee and to encourage tourism in the area through a park, a museum and related activities. They formed a local group with a donation of $1,000 from a local church to work toward their goal.
Walter and Beverly worked toward getting a congressional bill supporting the park. On February 5, 1987, a bill was introduced in Congress to designate the Trail of Tears as a national historic trail. After committee hearings and voting, the legislation was passed and President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law on December 16, 1987. Land, which contained the graves of the Cherokee Indian Chiefs White Path and Fly Smith, was donated for the park by the Kentucky New Era Newspaper and the Henry Morris family. In 1989, statues of the chiefs were unveiled at the park.
Following the creation of the park, Walter and Beverly worked to form a competition to be held in the park each year known as a “pow wow” to encourage attendance by Native Americans to a "non-Indian" land. Costumed dance competitions were held in a number of categories. In 1992, the "pow wow" celebrated the Year of the American Indian. Craft demonstrations were added to the festivities, which began to attract out-of-towners. The state provided a grant to help develop the pow wow grounds as the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park, which opened in 1993. In 1996, the National Park Service designated the park as a certified site on the National Historic Trail of Tears-the first non-federal property to receive this designation.
Both Walter and Beverly were dedicated supporters of the park that they had helped to create and both worked in the operations of the park until their deaths. Walter died on August 6, 2002 in Bangor, Maine and was buried in the Dry Fork Cemetery in Lyon County, Kentucky. Beverly died on June 11, 2010 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and was also buried in the Dry Fork Cemetery,
Tombstone of Walter and Beverly Baker
Grave Marker of Walter Wallis Baker
LINEAGE: (Walter Wallis Baker was the son of Clyde Edward and Edna Mae Wallis Baker, grandson of Mark Smith and Mattie Mae Ricks Baker and great-grandson of Samuel Freeman and Sarah Adeline Thomas Baker. Sarah Adeline was the first child of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas. Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas. Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas. Mary was the seventh child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)
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