[1] When Eaton was eight years old, his father, an abolitionist, was shot in cold blood by six former Confederates, who during the war had served with the Quantrill Raiders.

Eaton claimed that after many competitions, the fort's commanding officer, Colonel John Joseph Coppinger, gave Frank a marksmanship badge and a new nickname, "Pistol Pete".

Eaton usually carried a loaded Colt Single Action Army[citation needed] and often said "I'd rather have a pocket full of rocks than an empty gun.

The common saying in the mid-western United States, "hotter than Pete's pistol", traces back to Eaton's shooting skills, along with his legendary pursuit of his father's killers.

His first, was an autobiography titled Veteran of the Old West: Pistol Pete, which tells a tale of his life as a Deputy United States Marshal and cowboy.

Much of the story of his deputization appears to be fictional, however, as there are no corroborating sources for his claims and there is no record of the Deputy US Marshal and US Judge mentioned.

Campfire Stories is a collection of yarns and recollections that Frank Eaton would tell to the many visitors that came to sit on his front porch in Perkins, Oklahoma.

Many at the school were unhappy with the "Tigers" mascot and felt "Pistol Pete", symbolic of the American Old West and Oklahoma's land run roots, better represented the college.

On March 15, 1997, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame posthumously honored Frank Eaton with the Director's Award.

[7] Frank "Pistol Pete" Eaton Bronze by Harold T Holden on the campus of Oklahoma State University unveiled September 2024.