The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-05-03
TURNER AND HIS GUN
DoUeLE-L Eek, THE COWBOY. AND
HIS MODEST RECORD CLAIM.

Now and then bad man tries 20
cultivate something which he mistakes
for humor. One Of these devotees Of lev
ity used to haunt tho cattle range Of
western Kansas. and every fall and
spring he appeared in Dodge City at the
general roundup" Every time he
came TO town he left some proof Of a
facetious mind, and was very sure of be-
ing talked about by every idle man and
most Of 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. 8" tho duplicated
capital being Leonard & Loughrain's
br and he being one Of their best
ride. In fact, Turner might have been
foreman il 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 he.
But the trouble was he wanted recon-
pense for the dull life Of "A cowboy. He
didn't care for money. ANY wages going
were acceptable TO him. But when the
cattle got rounded up and there was half
q days escape from the te,lium Of labor
Eek Turner wanted his fling. And he al
ways went into town and had il.
Now, foreman cannot do these
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 thought Of.
One Of Eek Turner'S pet bits Of hu-
NOR was 10 pick ont people whose ap-
pearance displeased him and shoot Just
near enough TO them TO express his sen
timents. He particularly disliked TO see
hOrsemen 20 by on the trot. IL was in n
cowboy country. and cowboys gall0ped,
whether or not they were in a hurry.
And IL the rider had habit Of "rir-
ing IN the stirrups, as conventional
trotters often do. Eek Turner hated him
violently. So that when he came down
Main street one day and saw n rather
well dressed man 60 by trotting and
rising with the motion of his horse
Eek called general attention to the spec
;acle.
Really the trotter was not very good
horSeman. It was possible. as Eek OBJ
.
ery time he rose in the saddle And the
glimpses Of that recurring daylight"
provoked Eek To- bit of pistol practice.
Il bet, " said he, watching the rider
and reaching for large revolver. pretty
well 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 as TO be dangerous, and 50 no
one interfcred. The rider was half
/ block away when Eek fired, and the
/ bullet must have gone true. for the rider
/ passed on unconscious. while n sign di-
! agonally across the street was shattered
/ by the shot.
/ He tried il again later in the day and
aculously-eScaped tho
infiiction Of injury. lodge 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
in the leg and was very indignant be-
cause they would not give him another
chance, assuring the crippled victim IL
was an accident. and urging him 10
mount and trot past just one time more,
rising no higher than he had done. and
guaranteeing TO put three shots out Of
five between him and the saddle or buy
the drinks for tho crowd.
But it was the uncertainty about the
other two shots that irterfered with ne
gOtiations-that and the trotting man s
persistent endcavOr to enjoy the freedom
Of his own pistol arm while Eek re-
mained in his presence.
Eek thought il was funny. and that
halt cinatiOn grew on him till he got
into trouble. When the wave OF Texas
fever swept over Kansas in 1850. kill
ing of so many Of tho Kansas cattle, a
state law stopped those drives which
had been the life Of western Kansas, and
Eek Turner lost his occupation. He went
farther west and south and tried TO shoot
the top of a man s plug hat in Colorado
Springs because he insisted the fashion
was two inches shorter than the man
was wearing.
At La Veta he took exception 20 the
sputtering sound occasionally made BY
an electric lamp and went about shoot.
ing the carbous IN two till the city
marshal engaged in repartee and shot
of the end Of Eck's thumb. alleging n.
sufficient reason the fact that no man
with two good thumbs could be a real
" bad man. Eek replied in kind. and
there were no applicants for the position
the marshal's demise left vacant until il
was known that Eek had left that region
and gone to Arizona.
At Fort Wingate he had the misfor
tune TO shoot into an ambulance driver
by a very mild hammered private sol
dier, who pulled up a winchester and
crippled Eek for life. destroying the use
funeSs Of both shoulders and incidental
ly putting out his right eye.
After that Eek Turner went 10 Flag
staff and developed remarkable habit