The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1895-07-29
TURNER AND HIS GUN
ooUsLE-L Eek. THE cow5oY, AND
HIS MODEST RECORD CLAIM.

nered Soldier with = Winchester.
Now and then a bad man" tries 10
cultivate something which he mistakes
for humor. One Of these devotces Of lev
ity used to haunt the cattle range Of
western Kansas, and every fall and
spring he appeared in Dodge City nc the
general roundup" Every time he
came to town he left some proof Of n
facetious mind, aud was very sure Of be-
ing talked about by every idle man and
most If the busy ones who remained
when the rush was over.
His name was Eek Turner. though
Dodge City will best remember him by
the title DOuble-L Eek, - the duplicated
capital being Leonard & LOughrain's
brand, and he being one Of their best
riders. In fact. Turner might have been
foreman if he had cared for the position,
for he could ride well, and there were
few more expert with the rope and prob
ably none who could bear fatigue and
hardship more patiently than lac.
But the trouble was he wanted recon-
pense for the dull life If "a cowboy. He
didn't care for money. Any wages going
We're acceptable to him But when ths
cattle got rounded up and there was half
a days escape from the te,lium of labor
Eek Turner wanted his fling. Aud he al
ways went into town and had il.
Now. foreman cannot do these
I things. He must stay by the herd all the
time, preserve clear head and firm
/ place IN the saddle. He Is the represent
ative Of the owner-the custodian of
much wealth-and dissipation Is not TO
/ be- thonght Of.
I One Of Eek Turner'S = pet bits of hu-
NOR was tp pick out people whose ap-
! pearance displeascd him and shoot just
near enough to them To express his sen
4 timentS. He particularly diSlilcd to see
/ hurSemen go by ON the trot. IL was i'm a
/ cowboy country, and cuwbuys galloped.
whether or not they were in hurry.
/ And if the rider had a habit of iris
/ ing in the stirrups, rs conventional
/ trutters often do. Eek Turner hated him
/ violently. so that when lac came down
Main street one day and SAW a rather
| well dressed man ~ by trotting and
rising with the motion Of his horse
I Eek called general attention to the spec
tacle.
Really the trotter was not very good
hor>cman. 1t was pn>Sible. aS Eek OBJ
served. 70 "sce daylight under him ev-
ery time hc ru>e in the saddle And the
glmp>cS of that recurring daylight" 4"
provoked Eek To- a bit of pistol practice
q bet. - said hc, watching the rider
and reaching for large revolver. pretty
we'll back on his belt, Il bet can shoot
between him and the saddle and never
touch a feather. "
he had been drinking in so decorous
a manner ~ To be dangerous. and - mO
one intcrfered. The rider was half a
blucl. away when Eek fired. and the
bullet must have gone true. for the rider
passed ON unconscious. while sign di-
agonally across the street was shattered
by the shot.
He tried il again later in the day and
fortunately-mirsi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the
infliction of injury. Dodge City talked
about " Doubled Eek and his new joke
all summer. and in the autumn he came
in and tried il again.
The first shot he made he hit a man
III the leg and was very indignant be-
cause they would not give him another
chance. assuring tho crippled victim il
was an accident. and urging him Z,
mount and trOt past just one time more
rising no higher than he had done. aDf
guaranteeing to put three shots out oi
five between him and the saddle or buy
the drinks for the crowd
But il was the uncertainty about tbs
other two shots that irterfered with ne
gotiations-that and the trottiug man I
persistent endcavor to enjoy the freedom
of his own pistol arm while Eek re
mained in his presence.
lex thought il was funny. and tha
hallucination grew ON him till he 20
into trouble. When the wave of "Texm
fever" swept over Kansas in 1880. kill
ing of so many Of the Kansas cattle,
state law stopped those drives whicl
had been the life of western Kansas. an,
Eek Turner lost his occupation. He wen
farther west and south and tried To shoe
the top on man > plug hat in Colorad,
Springs because he insisted the fashiol
was two inches shorter than the maj
was wearing.
At La Veta he took exception to tn
suffering sound occasionally made b.
an electric lamp and went about shoot
ing the carbOns in two till the cit
marshal engaged i'm repartee and sho
of the end of Eck's thumb. alleging a
a sufficient reason the fact tLat no ma
with two good thumbs could b. u real
" bad imam. - Eek replied in kind. an
there were no applicants for the positio
the marshal's demise left vacant until
was known that Eek had left that regio
and gone TO Arizona
At Fort Wingnte he had the misfor
tune 70 shoot into an ambulance drive
by very mild hammered private sol
dicr, who pulled up n winchester an
: crippled Eek for life, destroying the use
fulness Of both shoulders and Incidental