Urban center of agricultural and oil producing Kern County, California, founded by Colonel Thomas Baker in the 1850s. Famous residents: UFW founder Cesar Chavez, football great Frank Gifford, Indy driver Rick Mears, operatic baritone Lawrence Tibbett, Chief Justice Earl Warren, author Elizabeth Borton de Trevino, and musicians Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and Korn.