Eaton was born on October 26, 1860, in Hartford, Connecticut and when he was eight years old, he moved with his family to a homestead in Twin Mounds, Kansas. That very year, his father, a Union Army veteran, became involved in a dispute with several Confederate men who had ridden with Quantrill’s Raiders during the Civil War. A short time later, six of these men appeared at their home, and Frank’s father was shot in cold blood right in front of the boy. Encouraged by a family friend to avenge the death of his father, the friend began to teach young Eaton to handle a gun.
The icon of THE OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS!
ReplyDeleteT. Rose
My almamater . My father was a county extension agent for the OSU cooperative after college. In the towns he was in would quite often run the 4H programs for the school. He has passed but growing up he told the story of taking the kids and their animals to Stillwater to show. He would call Frank in Perkins OK. where he lived and let him know. He would stop at Franks house, he would come out in all his cowboy garb as you see in the picture.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone out there was one of these kids I would like to meet you. What a cool life story for those kids.
Side note. I have the book that tells Frank's story, read it many times. Another Marshal named Bass Reeves a black man and famous as well is supposedly the person who the lone ranger is based on.