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‘Rattlesnake Pete’ Dies to End Legend A colorful chapter in Klamath Falls’ history —albeit a short one—  has closed.

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Rattlesnake Pete —christened Miles Henry Jackson— died Saturday at 9:06 a.m. at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital. He celebrated his 93rd birthday March 1 and had been hospitalized since Friday.=== A legendary and colorful figure in Klamath Falls, Jackson was familiar to many but known to few.==== He came to Klamath Falls some 30 years ago, reportedly with the avowed intention of “being a character.”==== And he dramatically fulfilled his intentions.

Armed with two frontier revolvers --a Colt .45 and a Merwin Hulbert .45  —in his hip-slung holsters. “Pete” for many years rode to town on his striking “Old Paint.” From time to time he would unsling his .45s, fire a few blanks in the air and put the tourists to rout. (The blanks were loaded for him by a friend after it became impossible to buy them over the counter.)

Indian Fighter

The gentle and congenial character lived up to his namesake, if only in the tales he spun for his wide-eyed listeners.

His father married a Canadian-born schoolteacher and the family filed a tree claim in North Dakota either shortly before or after Jackson was born. He was named for Gen. Nelson Appleton Miles, the American Army officer who first left his business to raise a company of volunteers from Massachusetts during the Civil War.

At the close of the war, General Miles entered the regular Army, successfully conducted several important campaigns against the Indians and did much to open up for civilization large portions of the West.

In 1874 and 1875 General Miles defeated the Cheyennes, Kiowas and Comanches in the Staked Plains country; he subjugated the hostile Sioux and drove Sitting Bull across the frontier. He captured Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce tribe, he captured Elk Horn and his band on the edge of Yellowstone Park; he subjugated Geronoimo, Natches and the Apaches of the Souhtwest.

Later General Miles settled Indian troubles in the Dakotas about the time the senior Jacksons resided there, and saved the country from a serious war. Page From The Past

Perhaps it was the result of the childhood stories with which “Rattlesnake Pete” had grown up; perhaps it was the heritage of his name, but “Pete” was as much a page from the past as any native-born Westerner.

His very existence revived the memories of residents like the late Circuit Judge David R. Vandenberg, who stepped off a train in Klamath Falls decades ago, only to be caught in the flight of a bank robber racing around a busy downtown corner with the law in hot pursuit.

The Wild West was brought to life for thousands of tourists, most of which paused for a picture of the kindly old man with the flowing white hair.

“Starred” in Movies

Miles Henry Jackson undoubtedly has “starred” in more movies than David O. Selznik dreamed of.

As the years passed, government officials required him to dispose of his pinto pony in order to qualify for welfare payments.

His compulsion for firing his guns frightened customers and caused more than one storeowner to “lay down the law.” Last year he sold the frontier revolvers to Frank Drew.

The years before Jackson —or “Pete” —  came to Klamath Falls are hazy.

Canadian Pilot

His mother, according to family members, “didn’t want to be buried in the waters of the prairie” so the family sold their tree claim in North Dakota and moved to Michigan.

During World War I “Rattlesnake Pete” maneuvered the old bi-planes for the Canadian Air Force. He later attempted to qualify for a war pension in the U.S., but failed to meet requirements.

At one time he was an electrician in an automotive plant in Michigan, and later was in charge of a power plant in Carroll (Caro), Mich., where a son, Floyd, was born.

When Jackson’s son was about 2 years old and a daughter was only about 1 (some 51 years ago), Jackson’s beautiful wife left her family. The small boy was adopted by a Canadian Methodist minister and his wife, the late Rev. and Mrs. R. T. Kilpatrick, and young Floyd took their surname. The whereabouts of the daughter is not known.

Parade Personage

In more recent years, “Rattlesnake Pete” traveled as far south as Pasadena, Calif., for the Rose Bowl Parade; as far east as Deadwood, S. D., for rodeo parades; as far north as Portland for the year’s big pageant in the City of Roses.

When funds and health began to wane, Jackson “grubstaked” himself at the Klamath Billiards or the Chuck Wagon, doing odd jobs for Charlie Schuss’ (then proprietor) waitresses and chefs.

For several years he “stoked the furnace” at the Greer Apartments, and received living quarters in return.

Lately he had lived at the Avalon Rooms at 838 Walnut Street, from where he sauntered off for a quiet day of fishing in the nearby river.

Posed For Portraits

He was an avid collector of souvenirs and cherished, among other things, Indian bows and arrows —the type, perhaps, that the famous General Miles had captured decades earlier.

For a change of pace, he posed for photographs or portraits, the type done by Ferebee Studio; the oils painted by Mrs. Jack Warrick, formerly of Klamath Falls and now of Oakland, Calif., or Mrs. R. H. Dettre, wife of Colonel Dettre who commands the 408th Fighter Group at Kingsley Field.

Jackson’s sole known survivors are his son, Floyd Kilpatrick, of Long Beach, Calif., who operates a motel in Coronado and the daughter whose name and address are unknown.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the chapel of Ward’s Klamath Funeral Home.  Klamath Falls Herald and News, Sunday, March 27, 1966