Roy Bean

"Judge" Roy Bean (c. 1825 – March 16, 1903) was an eccentric US saloonkeeper and arbitrary judge who called himself "The Law West of the Pecos".

The legend says that "Hanging Judge Roy Bean," held court sessions in his saloon along the Rio Grande River in a desolate stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas.

Roy Bean was born in Mason County, Kentucky about 1825, (some records suggest Roy Bean was born in 1823). At about the age of 15 he left home seeking adventure in the west and to follow his two older brothers, Sam and Joshua. With Brother Sam, he travelled by wagon train to what would later become New Mexico, then crossed the Rio Grande and set up a trading post in Chihuahua, Mexico. After killing a local hombre, Roy fled to California, to stay with his brother Joshua, who would soon become the first mayor of San Diego.

Roy worked as a bartender in his brother's saloon, "The Headquarters" and was later appointed by Josh as a lieutenant in the state militia. In 1852, Roy was arrested after wounding a man in a duel. He escaped, and when Mayor Josh was killed a few months later by a rival in a romantic triangle, Roy headed back to New Mexico where Sam had become a sheriff.

Roy tended bar in Sam's saloon for several years and supplemented his income by smuggling guns from Mexico through the Union blockade during the Civil War. Afterward, he married a Mexican teenager and settled in San Antonio. Throughout the 1870s he supported his family of 5 children by peddling stolen firewood and selling watered-down milk. His notorious business practices eventually earned his San Antonio neighborhood the nickname Beanville.

In 1882, the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad hired crews to link San Antonio with El Paso. Fleeing his marriage and illegal businesses in San Antonio, Roy headed to Vinegaroon an "end of track" tent city to become a saloonkeeper, serving railroad workers whiskey from a tent. As his own best customer, he was often drunk and disorderly.

County commissioners, eager to establish some sort of local law enforcement, appointed him as the justice of the peace for Pecos County. Roy packed up and moved north from Vinegaroon to a small tent city on a bluff above the Rio Grande named Langtry (in honor of a railroad boss who had run the Southern Pacific's tracks through it).

The name also happened to belong to a beautiful British actress, Lillie Langtry. Roy had read about her and had become enchanted with her. Roy built a saloon he named the Jersey Lilly that also served as his home. He hung a tattered picture of Miss Lillie behind the bar. Above the door he posted signs proclaiming "ICE COLD BEER" and "LAW WEST OF THE PECOS." From there Roy Bean dispensed liquor, justice and tall tales, including that he himself had named the town in honor of the actress Lillie Langtry. He was elected to office in 1884 and re-elected many times.

His court methods were arbitrary and comical and inspired many outrageous tales. His court paraphernalia included only one revolver, one law book and a pet bear. He once assessed a dead man a $40 USD fine (all the money the corpse had) for carrying a concealed weapon. He also knew next to nothing about the real law, since he reputedly considered habeas corpus a profanity.

In legend, Judge Roy Bean is a merciless dispenser of justice, often called "The Hangin' Judge." But that title goes to Isaac Parker of Fort Smith, Arkansas, who sentenced 172 men to hang and actually strung up 88 of them. In his book "Judge Roy Bean Country," Jack Skiles says that although Bean threatened to hang hundreds, "there's no evidence to suggest that Judge Roy Bean ever hung anybody." One or two were sentenced and taken to the gallows, but allowed to escape.

One of Bean's most outrageous rulings occurred when an Irishman was accused of killing a Chinese worker. Friends of the accused threatened to destroy the Jersey Lilly if he was found guilty. Court in session, Bean browsed through his law book, turning page after page, searching for a legal precedent. Finally, rapping his pistol on the bar, he proclaimed, "Gentlemen, I find the law very explicit on murdering your fellow man, but there's nothing here about killing a Chinaman. Case dismissed."

In 1898 Bean organized the world championship boxing title bout between Bob Fitzsimmons and Peter Maher on an island in the Rio Grande, because boxing matches were illegal in Texas. The resulting sport reports spread his fame throughout the USA.

As for Lillie Langtry, he never actually met her – though he claimed otherwise. He did write her many times and even received letters in reply. He claimed that she had sent him two pistols. Unfortunately, Langtry only found time to visit the town some ten months after Roy Bean's death.

Judge Roy Bean died in March 16, 1903, peacefully in his bed, after a bout of heavy drinking. Later legend claimed he was shot by a Mexican outlaw in his porch. He was buried at the Whitehead Museum in Del Rio, Texas.

References and external links

• C.L. Sonninchsen. Roy Bean: The Law West of Pecos. 1943. (ISBN 0826308465)

• Jack Skiles. Judge Roy Bean Country. Texas Tech University Press ISBN: 0-89672-369-0