Frank B. Eaton "Pistol Pete" - Perkins, OK - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Frank B. Eaton is laid to rest in Knipe Cemetery in Perkins. He shares a double, upright marker with his spouse Anna. He died at the age of 97 in Perkins.

Spurred into action after his father's death, Frank learned to handle a weapon. He was known for his incredibly quick draw on the gun, even faster than Buffalo Bill.

Eaton wrote two books on the Old West. He was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1997.

Frank's likeness was connected to the Old West than two other colleges used variations of him for their logos.
source: (visit link)

Text on headstone:

Front:

Eaton
Anna R.
His Wife
June 27, 1881 - Feb. 14, 1962

Frank B.
Pistol Pete
Oct. 25, 1860 - Apr. 8, 1958

Back:

Pistol Pete
Cowboy, Scout, Indian Fighter, Deputy U.S. Marshall. One of a vanished era on the American Frontier.
(symbols: spur, pistol, book and pen, marshall badge)

Description: Excerpts rom wikipedia: Frank Boardman "Pistol Pete" Eaton (October 26, 1860 – April 8, 1958) was a scout, Indian fighter, and cowboy. Eaton was born in 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut, and at the age of eight, he moved with his family to Twin Mound, Kansas. When Eaton was eight years old, his father, an abolitionist, was shot in cold blood by six former Confederates, who during the war had served with the Quantrill Raiders. The six men, from the Campsey and the Ferber clans, rode with the southerners who after the war called themselves "Regulators". In 1868, Mose Beaman, his father's friend, said to Frank, "My boy, may an old man's curse rest upon you, if you do not try to avenge your father". That same year, Mose taught him to handle a gun. At the age of fifteen, before setting off to avenge his father's death, Eaton said he visited Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, a cavalry fort, to learn more about how to handle a gun. Although too young to join the army, he outshot everyone at the fort and competed with the cavalry's best marksmen, beating them every time. Eaton claimed that after many competitions, the fort's commanding officer, Colonel John Joseph Coppinger, gave Frank a marksmanship badge and a new nickname, "Pistol Pete." Like many of his tales, this may not be completely factual. During his teen years, Eaton wrote that he was faster on the draw than Buffalo Bill. From his first days as a lawman, he was said to "pack the fastest guns in the Indian Territory." By the end of his career, Eaton would allegedly have eleven notches on his gun. Eaton was said to have been given a cross by a girlfriend, which he wore around his neck and which saved his life when it deflected a bullet during a gunfight. He would write later that, "I’d rather have the prayers of a good woman in a fight than half a dozen hot guns: she’s talking to Headquarters". Eaton claimed to serve as a U.S. Deputy Marshall under “hanging judge” Isaac Parker until late in life, but no documentation of this could be found by the Curator of the US Marshals Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas. At twenty-nine, he joined the land rush to Oklahoma Territory. He settled southwest of Perkins, Oklahoma where he served as sheriff and later became a blacksmith. He was married twice, had nine children, 31 grandchildren, and lived to see three great-great-grandchildren. He died on April 8, 1958 at the age of 97. Pistol Pete became the official mascot of OSU in 1958, and the familiar caricature was adopted in 1984. Eaton usually carried a loaded .45 Colt[citation needed] and often said "I'd rather have a pocket full of rocks than an empty gun." He was also known to throw a coin in the air, draw and shoot it before it hit the ground. The common saying in the mid-western United States, "hotter than Pete's pistol," traces back to Eaton's shooting skills, along with his legendary pursuit of his father's killers. Date of birth: 10/26/1860 Date of death: 04/08/1958 Area of notoriety: Historical Figure Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Sunrise to Sunset Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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