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Frank
Boardman "Pistol Pete” Eaton (1860-1958) - Cowboy, Indian
fighter,
U.S. Deputy Marshal, scout, and author, Eaton was
born on October 26, 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut. When he was
eight years old, he moved with his family to a homestead in
Twin Mounds,
Kansas. That very year, his father, a Union Army
veteran, became involved in a dispute with several Confederate
men who had ridden with Quantrill’s Raiders during the
Civil War. A short time later, six of these men appeared at their
home and Frank’s father was shot in cold blood right in front
of the boy. Encouraged by a family friend to avenge the death
of his father, the friend began to teach young Eaton to handle
a gun.
 By
the time he was just 15 years-old, he had earned the nickname
of "Pistol Pete," for his superior gun handling skills and
deadly shots. It was a remarkable feat, as Eaton had been born
with a crossed left eye. However, he had overcome this
"disability” by figuring out how to aim the gun without
sighting down the barrel. He was so good that a friend said
the he could "Shoot the head off a snake with either hand."
That same
year, wanting to learn even more about handling a gun, he
visited Fort Gibson,
Oklahoma. There, instead of learning
anything more, he began to compete with the some of the
cavalry's best marksmen, beating them every time. His
reputation as "packing the truest and fastest guns in
Indian Territory" was born.
Frank then
began to search for the men who had killed his father years
before and legend has it before he was done avenging his
father’s death, he had tracked down and killed five of the six
men who had been involved in the murder in 1868. The last man
had been killed in a card game and all had lived lives of
crime.
At the age of just 17, he was one
of the youngest
U.S. Deputy Marshals to have ever been
commissioned in the Western District at
Fort Smith,
Arkansas.
Serving under "hanging judge,”
Isaac Parker, his territory
extended from southern
Kansas to northern Texas.
He made his home in Bartlesville,
Oklahoma and soon had a girlfriend named Jennie who gave him a
crucifix to wear around his neck for protection. The girl must have had a
premonition as the crucifix actually saved Eaton’s life on one
occasion when it deflected a bullet that the lawman he would
have taken in his chest. Frank would later write of this, "I’d
rather have the prayers of a good woman in a fight than half a
dozen hot guns: she’s talking to Headquarters.” Unfortunately,
Frank never got the opportunity to thank Jennie, as she died
of pneumonia. He buried the cross at the head of her grave.
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Bartlesville,
Oklahoma, 1910,
Oscar Drum
This image available for
photographic prints and downloads
HERE!
During his
career, he was involved in a number of gunfights and was known
to always carry a pair of loaded Colt .45 pistols on his hips.
In his own words he said his best insurance was: "Throwin' a
lot a lead fast and straight"
When he was
29, he joined the Oklahoma Land Rush and settled southwest of
Perkins,
Oklahoma where he served as sheriff and later became
a blacksmith. In August, 1893, he married a woman named Orpha
Miller of Guthrie,
Oklahoma and the couple had two children.
Unfortunately, she died of a lung disease seven years into the
marriage. He remarried in December, 1902 to a woman named
Anna Sillix and the couple would eventually have another eight
children.
Frank would
continue to serve as a marshal, a sheriff or a deputy sheriff
until late in life. By the time his career as a lawman was
completed, he reportedly had some 15 notches on his gun belt.
Later, he
wrote two books, telling the story of the Old West. The first
was an autobiography entitled Veteran of the Old West:
Pistol Pete, which tells of his life as a
U.S. Deputy Marshal and cowboy. His second book, entitled Campfire
Stories: Remembrances of a Cowboy Legend wasn’t published
until 30 years after his death.
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He continued to carry his loaded pistols until his death and was still
said to be extremely quick on the draw when he was in his nineties. He
died on April 8, 1958 at the age of 97.
During his lifetime, he was married twice, had ten children,
31 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.
The phrase
"hotter than Pete's pistol," traces back to Eaton's shooting
skills and his legendary pursuit of his father's killers.
Frank is
honored as the mascot for
Oklahoma State University,
signifying the Old West and the spirit of
Oklahoma. In March,
1997, he posthumously received the prestigious Director's
Award at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.
©
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, updated January, 2010.
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Frank Eaton was still wearing his pistols
at the age of 90.
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