[1] When he was two years old, Baxter's family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he lived much of his life.

[2] Baxter attended university in Knoxville but later continued his education at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

After graduating he was commissioned a second lieutenant and he served in the Third United States Cavalry for three years.

On November 11, 1886 Baxter was appointed the governor of the then-U.S. territory of Wyoming by President Grover Cleveland.

[3] Baxter returned to politics in 1889, serving as a delegate to the Wyoming Constitutional Convention.