Frank "Pistol Pete" Eaton

Frank Boardman "Pistol Pete" Eaton (1860-1958) was a cowboy, scout, author, Indian fighter and Deputy U.S. Marshall for Judge Isaac C. Parker (better known by his moniker, the "hanging judge"). When Eaton was a boy in Kansas, his father was gunned down by six former Confederate soldiers. A friend of his father's told him, "My boy, may an old man's curse rest upon you, if you do not try to avenge your father." It took nearly 20 years, but Eaton eventually tracked down and killed five of his father's murderers (the sixth was shot by someone else in a dispute over a card game).
Before embarking on his mission to avenge his father's death, Eaton sought training at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. The 15-year-old repeatedly competed with -- and beat -- the cavalry's best marksmen in shooting matches. In recognition of his prowess, Colonel Copinger, the fort's commanding officer gave Eaton the nickname that would stick with him throughout his life, "Pistol Pete." Allegedly, during his teen years, Eaton could outdraw Buffalo Bill Cody, and he was reputed to be a quick draw into his nineties.
Eaton began serving as a deputy U.S. Marshal in Indian Territory when he was just 17; his territory extended from Southern Kansas to Northern Texas. Eaton settled near Perkins, Oklahoma when he was 29, served as sheriff and later worked as a blacksmith. He wrote two books about his life in the Old West and spun yarns for the visitors that sat for a spell on his front porch. He was eminently quotable. After a girlfriend gave him a steel crucifix that reputedly deflected a bullet during a gunfight, saving his life. Eaton said, "I’d rather have the prayers of a good woman in a fight than half a dozen hot guns: she’s talking to Headquarters." Eaton usually carried a loaded Colt .45 and often claimed, "I'd rather have a pocket full of rocks than an empty gun."
The photos below come from BANC MSS 71/5, Frank Eaton autobiography and related material. They suggest Eaton was on friendly terms with at least some of his Indian neighbors, but further research is necessary before any such speculation can be confirmed.

The Bancroft's holdings also include copies of Eaton's autobiography, Pistol Pete: Veteran of the Old West as well as materials used to write it. See the Bancroft catalog for more information.

-- M. Bryer

These photographs feature Eaton, his biographer, Eva Gillhouse, Rolla Goodnight, and a 104-year-old Indian chief and his family. The snapshots were taken at the Chief's home in Oklahoma in May 1952.
















For more on Eaton's life, see, "Frank 'Pistol Pete' Eaton," Vertical File Biographies, Kansas State Historical Society,
http://www.kshs.org/genealogists/individuals/vertical/bios/eatonfrankpistolpete.htm and "Frank Eaton," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Eaton

Illustrated Playing Cards

The Jeffrey Schweitzer papers contain the mementos he collected from a number of international fairs. These include a nifty deck of illustrated playing cards from the San Francisco Mid-Winter Exposition, 1884. This particular deck of "Midwinter Fair and Pacific Coast Playing Cards" was manufactured by The Winters Art Litho Co., San Francisco/Chicago in 1891; they have an enamel finish. In addition to illustrations of the Mid-Winter Expo, the cards depict scenes from the Pacific Coast, from Washington State to Los Angeles. Bay Area scenes include San Francisco's Chinatown, Golden Gate Park and Alcatraz. The deck includes a card of the University of California or, as the card reads: California State University Berkeley. By the time Schweitzer graduated from the University of California in 1907, the campus he walked would have looked significantly different than the one depicted here as the 10 of clubs.


The Bancroft has a number of related collections. For instance, other images from the fair can be found on the OAC, in the Roy D. Graves Pictorial Collection and the Jesse Brown Cook Scrapbooks documenting San Francisco History and Law Enforcement.

-- M. Bryer

Map of the 1893 Columbian Exposition Chicago World's Fair

Early in the survey we found a collection of scrapbooks that highlighted some of the world's fairs from the turn of the nineteenth century, primarily from an agricultural perspective. Charles Turrill, the scrapbook compiler and manager of the California exhibit at this fair, widened his collecting interests notably, however, when it came to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and Columbian Exposition, from which he collected a variety of documents and souvenirs. And how could he resist? From the debut of the Ferris Wheel and the birth of the carnival midway, to new innovations in electricity, early moving pictures, and other emergent technologies, this world's fair overflowed with captivating and awe-inspiring ideas. More than 27 million visitors came from across the United States and around the world from May through October 1893, and many of the wonders and spectacles beheld there in Chicago would come to have a profound impact on American culture.

The map below shows the physical vastness of the fair, over 600 acres of landscaped grounds, waterways, and several buildings. Due to its large size the map is best viewed in person.

From C-B 545, The "Charles B. Turrill papers as manager,
Preliminary World's Fair Exhibit of California, 1892".

Additional world's fair materials housed at the Bancroft include San Francisco at the World's Fair, Chicago, 1893. (1986; microfilm), 1939 World's Fair facts : Golden Gate International Exposition on San Francisco Bay (1939), and Hubert Howe Bancroft's 1895 Book of the fair; an historical and descriptive presentation of the world's science, art, and industry, as viewed through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893... and the Records of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco (BANC MSS C-A 190)

-- D. Miller.