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Pistol Pete’s Payback and Other Historic Vengeances

Khalid Elhassan October 15, 2020 31 min

World War II - Quisling — Quisling with SS chief Heinrich Himmler. Cotton Boll Conspiracy

32. “Fill Your Hand, You Son of a Bitch!“

Frank ‘Pistol Pete’ Eaton. Perkins, Oklahoma

Soon as Frank Eaton entered Wyley Campsey’s saloon, he shouted at him: “fill your hand, you son of a bitch!” As his payback target reached for a gun under the bar, Frank shot him twice in the heart. Simultaneously, two of Campsey’s employees opened fire on Frank, hitting him in the leg and arm. He would survive his wounds, settle down in Perkins, Oklahoma, marry, raise a family, and live to the ripe old of 98, dying in 1958.

Pistol Pete, mascot of the Oklahoma State University Cowboys. Long Beach Press Telegram

As he aged, youngsters loved to visit the Old West legend’s home, listen to his yarns, and watch his lightning-quick draw. In 1923, students at Oklahoma A&M College, now Oklahoma State, asked Pistol Pete to pose as the school’s mascot. New Mexico State University and the University of Wyoming followed suit, also adopting Pistol Pete’s likeness as a mascot.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.