7. The Settlement of Accounts, Old West Style
The remote Indian Territory known as the Cherokee Nation was notorious as a safe haven for criminal fugitives from nearby states. However, local Cherokee lawmen were reluctant to go after white outlaws because that often led to messy entanglements with federal authorities. So when they learned that Frank Eaton was after two white fugitives in their territory, the Cherokees figured he could solve a problem for them without a jurisdictional headache, and guided him to their hideout. When Eaton rode into the clearing where Shannon Campsey had his cabin, Campsey grabbed a rifle. Frank called out “Hello, Shan – don’t you know me?”
Campsey began to take aim, but before he could draw a bead, Frank whipped out a pistol and shot him dead. He found his other target, Doc Ferber, as he tended cattle nearby, and killed him as well. Pistol Pete had just earned the first two notches on his pistol. Doc Ferber and Shannon Campsey had been known cattle thieves, and gunning them down favorably impressed the local Cattleman’s Association. So they hired Frank as a detective. That gave him the perfect cover to go after the rest of his father’s killers and continue the exaction of vengeance. Within three months, he put paid to three more of them.
