Review: Kill or Be Killed
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 21, 2012
In the Old West some men were gunfighters, some cowpunchers, some Indian fighters, some lawmen . . .. . . Frank "Pistol Pete" Eaton was all of them.  And his memoir is a spellbinding description of each.By the time he was sixteen he was so lightning fast on the draw he gunned down a local bad hombre dispite the troublemaker already having the drop on him.From then on his reputation was born as: "The boy who packed the truest and fastest guns in Indian Territory"He would go on to carve 11 notches on his guns.Five came while serving as a Deputy U.S. Marshall under Judge Isaac C. Parker - -"The Hanging Judge."  "Pistol Pete" was only 17 at the time making him one of the youngest Deputy U.S. Marshalls in Western history."Pistol Pete" always lived the cowboy code of never going back on his word or backing down from a fight. And he would carry his pair of loaded Colt .45 Peacemakers right up until he died peacefully in his bed with his boots at age 97.He often said his best life insurance was:  "A rattler quick draw and always hittin' what I was a aimin' at."I believe a lot of you would enjoy reading this memoir because it is by, and about, a real cowboy and is a unique way to soak in what life in the real Old West was truly all about.I must warn you that sometimes "Pistol Pete" uses what would be considered today to be politically incorrect language. So, don't expect Hemmingway or Zane Gray.But, what you can expect is having the same experience if "Pistol Pete" invited you to sit with him on his front porch in Perkins, Oklahoma and listen as he tells you the vivid details of his colorful life."Pistol Pete" was tough-as-nails, absolutely fearless, honest and a loyal friend - -but he was nobody's fool and you didn't cross him.He was the Old West's version of what would be called today as having "The Right Stuff."His memoir is a one-of-a-kind story and it's all true.