Review: I Love Pistol pete Rising From the Dead
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 31, 2014
Okay, I admit it, I am an unabashed history buff and "The True Story Of Kill Or Be Killed In The Real Old West" was practically designed to catch my interest. The back story on the manuscript was even more tantalizing, as Jim Huebner, a self-professed “city slicker living in Ft Lauderdale… but I’m a cowboy at heart,” tells of finding the tattered manuscript in an old stagecoach chest in an abandoned barn.The thing is, I’d already been aware of Frank “Pistol Pete” Eaton. The hero of the tale was known as a gunfighter and lawman as well as the author of two books before dying in 1958 at the ripe old age of 97. Now evidently he actually has written three books as this manuscript seems put together by his daughter, Eva Gillhouse, near the end of his life from his writings and stories.In fact reading the book I can almost hear a gruff old ex-gunslinger telling his tales, mixing matter-of-fact personal history with tall tale.I will say that if you are looking for some historical tome that has been fact-checked and vetted by a phalanx of researchers, this ain’t it. If you are looking for Zane Grey or Louis L’Amore, then continue down the aisle. But if you want bare knuckled life in the real old west, in the words of someone who was there, then here are the stories for you.