[2] The Crescent Hotel was built in 1886 to a design by Isaac S. Taylor, as a resort for the rich and famous, but quickly became unmanageable and fell into disrepair.

He claimed to have discovered a number of "cures" for various ailments, including cancer, and launched frequent attacks on organized medicine, which he accused of being corrupt and profit-driven.

[3] Having been run out of Iowa for practicing medicine without a license, Baker moved his cancer patients to Arkansas and advertised his new health resort at the Crescent.

[clarification needed] In 1940, federal charges were filed against Baker for mail fraud and he spent four years in prison.

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