The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-02-07
TURNER AND HIS GUN
DOUBLED Eek, THE COWBOY, AND
HIS MODEST RECORD CLAIM.

Now and then bad man" tries to
cultivate something which he mistakes
for humor. One of these devotees of lev
ity used to haunt the cattle range Of
western Kansas, and every fall and
spring he appeared in Dodge City ut 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 viii best remember him by
the title Doubled Eek, - the duplicated
capital being Leonard a. 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 we'll, and there We're
few more expert with the rope and prob
ably none who could bear fatigue aud
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
"A days escape from the tedium of labor
Eek Turner wanted mis- fling. And he al
ways went into town and had it.
Now, a foreman cannot do these
things. He must stay by the herd all the
time, preserve clear head and firm
place in tine saddle. de 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 If hu-
NOR was to pick out people whose ap-
pearance displeased him and shoot Just
near enough to them to express his sen
timents. He particularly dislked 10 see
hOrsemen 60 by ON the trot. 1t was in a
cowboy country, and cowboys galloped,
whether or not they were III hurry.
And if the rider had habit Of "ris-
ing III the stirrups, as conventional
trotters often do, Eek Turner hated him
violently. So that when he came down
Main street one day and saw rather
well dressed man 60 by trotting and
rising with the motion of his horse
Eek called general attention TO the spec
tacle.
Really the trotter was not very good
horSeman. 1t was possible. rs Eek OBJ
served, To "see daylight under him ev-
cry time lac rose III the saddle. And the
glmp>es of that recurring daylight -
provoked Eek 10 q 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 shoe.
between him and the saddle and iievci
touch a feather. =
He had been drinking in so dccurou4
"A manner rs to be dangerous, and 80 no
one intcrfered. The rider was haif
block away when Eek fired. and tho
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
ortunately-miraculo culously-eScaped the
infliction of injury. Dodge City talked
about " "Double-L 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 ma
in the leg and was very indignant b,
cause they would not give him another
chance, assuring the crippled victim il
was an accident, and urging him TO
mount and trot past just one time more,
rising no higher than he had done, and
guaranteeing TO put three shots cat Of
five between him and the saddle or buy
the drinks fur the crowd.
But it was the uncertainty abont the
other two shots that iEterfcrcd with ne
gotiatiOns-that and the trotting man 5
persistent endcavor to enjoy the freedom
Of his own pistol arm while Eek re-
manned in ms presence.
Eek Thought it was funny. and that
hallucination grew On him till lac gut
into trouble. When the wave of Texas
fever" swept over Kansas IN 1850, kill
ing off 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 ana south and tried 10 shoot
the top of mans plug hat III Colorado
Springs because he insisted the fashion
was two inches shorter than the man
was wearing.
At Ii Veta he took exception "a the
sputtcring sound occasionally made by
an electric lamp and went about shoot
ing the carbons i'll two till the city
marshal engaged in repartee and shot
off the end of Eck's thumb, alleging as
a sufficient reason the fact that no man
with two good thumbs could be 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 rlisfor-
tune to shoot into an ambulance driven
by very mild mannered private sol
dier, who pulled up a winchester and
crippled Eek for life. destroying the use
fulness Of both shoulders and incidental
lv uniting ont his right eve.