Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

You were lost... but now you're found... Godspeed.

Deputy Baird's death was only discovered recently by a Denver Police historian. His name is on the Colorado memorial in Golden and the National memorial in Washington, DC.

Captain Lenny Ortiz, Ret.
Denver Sheriff Department.

March 3, 2018

Deputy Sheriff Baird, you did your duty right until the end. Your legacy of longtime devotion and service to the profession will always be remembered and your name will continue to be honored. Thank you for your legacy of commitment and dedication.

Tina Lewis Rowe
Captain, Denver Police Department (ret.)
U.S. Marshal, Colorado (ret.)

April 18, 2017

Deputy Sheriff Baird,
On today, the 107th anniversary of your death I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for the citizens of Denver County.

R.I.P.
USBP

Anonymous
U.S. Border Patrol

March 16, 2013

Denver Deputy Sheriff Edward Baird was escorting a prisoner to the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City, Colorado, when the wreck occurred.

It was around 8 o’clock on the evening of Friday, March 15, 1906, as Denver Deputy Sheriff Edward E. Baird, brother of then-Undersheriff Thomas Baird, stood on a platform at Denver’s Union Station with his prisoner, Archibald Whitney, preparing for an expected journey more than 10 hours south and east. Deputy Baird’s orders that evening were to transport convicted felon Archibald Whitney from the Denver County Jail to the state penitentiary in Canon City to begin his six year sentence for forgery.
Deputy Sheriff Bairdwas an experienced and well respected lawman, known for his attention to detail and efficiency— developed over the course of a rich law enforcement career, during which he had already served as Deputy Marshall, a detective, and a Deputy Sheriff in Leadville, Colorado. He was recognized for having apprehended and transported numerous prisoners from throughout the territories of Montana and Nebraska as well as Colorado. His friends and associates (like Larimer County’s Justice J.H. Bristol, who worked alongside Deputy Baird in Leadville) would later remark that Deputy Baird was not only very well liked, but also “was a most efficient officer”.
Deputy Baird and his prisoner boarded the smoking car of the Denver Rio Grande Number 3 in Denver a few minutes after eight on March 15 and proceeded without incident toward Pueblo. Accounts say that around 1:30 in the morning, the train stopped to board several more passengers in Pueblo, and thereafter headed west toward Canon City. As Number 3 chugged east at about 45 miles per hour amid a full-blown Spring snowstorm, Deputy Baird and Whitney were purportedly engaged in animated conversation in spite of the purpose of the journey, and even amid their cuffs. No one could know at the time that Frank Lively, the train switchman at the Swallows switching station –just 30 miles east of Pueblo—had fallen asleep—and in doing so, failed to notify the Number 3 train to switch tracks to make way for the Number 16-- now barreling eastbound toward Pueblo and toward the Number 3-- on the same track.
Around 2am on Friday morning, March 16, the Number 3 and the Number 16 collided head-on on a bend of deserted track, telescoping into one another, and erupting in fire. Unfortunately, Deputy Baird was instantly killed, as were 39 other passengers of Train 3; all but one members of the same car. Deputy Baird’s prisoner, still handcuffed to Deputy Sheriff Baird, also perished. Deputy Baird’s loaded service weapon and the cuffs, still fastened to the deceased prisoner were later retrieved, but Deputy Baird’s remains were unidentifiable and it is believed his remains were buried along with others in a mass grave near the site of wreckage. There is no official record of his death found among County records. It is said that Undersheriff Thomas Baird, upon visiting the wreckage and locating and identifying the prisoner’s remains, believed the convict to be entitled to a decent burial. Undersheriff Thomas Baird paid made provisions for same, even while grieving his own brother.

Rest in Peace, D/S Edward E. Baird.

Civilian
DSD

June 1, 2012

To fully appreciate the heroes of the present, we must recognize our heroes of the past. I am privileged to be the first to pay tribute to you. Your heroism and service is honored today, the 106th anniversary year of your death.

Your memory lives and you continue to inspire. Thank you for your service. My cherished son Larry Lasater was a fellow police officer who was murdered in the line of duty on April 24, 2005 while serving as a Pittsburg, CA police officer.

Time never diminishes respect. Your memory will always be honored and revered.

Rest In Peace.

Phyllis Loya
Mom of fallen California Officer Larry Lasater, Pittsburg PD, eow 4/24/05

June 1, 2012