Who is Frank “Pistol Pete” Eaton?
Duff Hale — Midlothian, Texas.
The deputy U.S. marshal and cowboy told a tale of his life in his 1952 autobiography, Pistol Pete: Veteran of the Old West. He claimed he killed 11 men in fair gunfights, including five who had murdered his father.
Most of the book, however, appears to be fictional. He offered no corroborating sources for his claims or records of his amazing feats.
Ramon Adams wrote Eaton’s book shared a “most preposterous tale,”

True West March/April 2025
In This Issue:
Western Books & Movies
More In This Issue
- Truth Be Known
- What Has Taught Me: Deb Goodrich
- Earp, Cowboy Songs & Prairie Hygiene
- Trails of the Old West
- The Frontier Characters of South Dakota
- The Bowie Knife
- The Kindled Flame 1835
- King of the Scatterguns
- Selling the Mythic West and the Real West
- A Gut Punch Turns into a Miracle Reprieve
- The Beginnings of the Bird Cage
- Frontier Colossus