Roy Bean – The Law West of the Pecos
In the annals of the American West, few figures loom as large, or as eccentrically, as Judge Roy Bean. A self-proclaimed dispenser of justice in the desolate expanse of southwest Texas, Roy Bean carved out a legend as "The Law West of the Pecos." His story is a blend of historical fact and embellished lore, making him a captivating character whose influence resonates even today. He was a Justice of the Peace in Val Verde County, in southwest Texas. He also owned a saloon in Langtry, where he held court and called himself “The Law West of the Pecos.”
Phantly Roy Bean, Jr., entered the world in Mason County, Kentucky, around 1825, the youngest of three sons born to Phantley Roy and Anna Henderson Gore Bean. The Bean family, by all accounts, lived a life of modest means. Early life in Kentucky provided a humble beginning for a man who would later fashion himself into a symbol of frontier justice.
At the tender age of 15, young Roy ventured westward, following in the footsteps of his older brothers. Together with his brother Sam, he joined a wagon train bound for New Mexico, eventually crossing the Rio Grande and establishing a trading post in Chihuahua, Mexico, around 1848. However, his time in Mexico was cut short when, after killing a local man, he fled to San Diego, California, where he reunited with his brother Joshua. This early episode set the stage for a life characterized by both ambition and a disregard for conventional rules. Roy Bean‘s early life was already filled with adventure and a penchant for trouble.
California in the 1850s was a land of opportunity and volatility, and Roy Bean was not one to shy away from either. On February 24, 1852, Bean found himself embroiled in a duel on horseback with a Scotsman named Collins. The exchange of gunfire resulted in Collins being shot in the arm, leading to the arrest of both men for assault with intent to murder. During his six-week incarceration, Roy Bean enjoyed the attention of local women, who found him brave and handsome. One admirer even managed to smuggle knives into his cell hidden within tamales, which he used to dig through the cell wall, making his escape on April 17.
His next venture took him to San Gabriel, California, where his brother Joshua owned the Headquarters saloon. Following Joshua’s death in November 1852, Roy Bean inherited the saloon and assumed its operation. It was during this period that another violent incident occurred, leading to the death of a Mexican official during an argument over a woman. This time, Bean was lynched by the official’s friends, only to be rescued by the very woman who had sparked the dispute. The ordeal left him with a permanent rope burn around his neck, a physical reminder of his brushes with death.
Undeterred by these close calls, Bean returned to New Mexico, where he once again resided with his brother Sam, who had become the sheriff in Mesilla.
The outbreak of the Civil War saw the Texas army invade New Mexico, and Bean threw his lot in with the Confederates, hauling supplies for their cause and residing in San Antonio. On October 28, 1866, he married 18-year-old Virginia Chavez, a union that was far from harmonious. A year into the marriage, Bean was arrested for aggravated assault on his wife. Despite their turbulent relationship, the couple eventually had four children. For the next decade, the family lived in a Mexican slum area on South Flores Street in San Antonio, an area that soon became known as Beanville. During these years, he engaged in various professions, including teamster, saloon operator, and running a dairy business, with varying degrees of success. He gained a reputation for evading creditors, business rivals, and the law.
By the early 1880s, Bean and his wife had separated. He sold his possessions and left San Antonio, wandering through railroad camps before settling in west Texas near the Pecos River. The Southern Pacific Railroad was then in the midst of its monumental task of completing its transcontinental route, facing its final hurdle: crossing the Pecos River. A construction camp emerged near the bridge site, known as Vinegarroon, named after a type of scorpion found in the area that emits a vinegar-like odor when alarmed. Established in 1881, Vinegarroon became a temporary home to thousands of railroad workers, and Roy Bean seized the opportunity to set up a small saloon in the bustling tent city.
The lawlessness of the area was evident, as described in a letter from Texas Ranger Captain T. L. Oglesby to his commanding officer General King on July 5, 1882. Oglesby painted a picture of a community teeming with "roughs, gamblers, robbers, and pickpockets," emphasizing the need for state troops to maintain order.
The need for a Justice of the Peace was apparent, and Roy Bean quickly volunteered. On August 2, 1882, he became the sole "legal authority" in the region, initially operating his "justice" from his tent saloon in Vinegarroon. With the nearest court situated 200 miles away in Fort Stockton, he proclaimed himself the "Only Law West of the Pecos."
From the outset, his approach to justice was unconventional. One of his first acts was to shoot up the saloon of a Jewish competitor. Holding court in his saloon, he relied on a single law book: the 1879 edition of the Revised Statutes of Texas. His methods, carried out in his combination saloon/courtroom, were often bizarre and always final. During the bridge construction at Vinegarroon, a structure collapsed, resulting in the fall of ten workers. Judge Roy Bean was called to the site to conduct an inquest. Arriving on a mule, he declared all ten men dead, despite only seven having been killed. When questioned about the discrepancy, he reasoned that the others would soon die and that he did not want to make the trip twice. Fortunately for the three men, his prediction proved inaccurate, and they survived to tell the tale.
By December 1882, railroad construction on the bridge was complete, and Vinegarroon was abandoned. Bean then moved northwest to the railroad camp of Eagle Nest, later renamed Langtry. There, he promptly established another tent saloon on railroad land, much to the dismay of Cezario Torres, who owned most of the land adjacent to the railroad right-of-way. He later erected a wooden structure for his saloon, naming it the "Jersey Lillie" after the renowned British stage actress Lillie Langtry. Her real last name was Emilie Le Breton, and she was not related to George Langtry, for whom the town was named. Bean used the saloon as his headquarters and courtroom, continuing his eccentric judicial practices.
On one occasion, when the body of a deceased cowboy was discovered in the area, found with $40 and a six-gun, Bean charged the corpse with carrying a concealed weapon and fined it $40. In another instance, when an Irishman named Paddy O’Rourke was to be tried for shooting a Chinese laborer, a mob of 200 angry Irishmen surrounded the courtroom, threatening to lynch Bean if O’Rourke was not released. In response, Bean ruled that "homicide was the killing of a human being; however, he could find no law against killing a Chinaman." The case was dismissed.
Despite objections from Texas Rangers, Bean maintained that it was absurd to prohibit a man from carrying a weapon. He released one man arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, reasoning that "if he was standing still when he was arrested, he wasn’t carrying weapons because he wasn’t going no place. And, if he was not standing still, he was traveling, and it’s legal for travelers to carry weapons. Case dismissed."
Jurors for his cases were selected from his best bar customers, and Bean allowed no hung juries or appeals. Because Langtry lacked a jail, all cases were resolved through fines, which often conveniently matched the amount of money the accused had on their person. It was never known for Bean to have sent any of the collected fines to the state; instead, he pocketed the cash.
Though later portrayed in Western films and books as a "hanging judge," Bean only sentenced two men to hang, one of whom escaped. When it came to horse thieves, who were often sentenced to hang, they would be released by Judge Bean if they returned the horses and, of course, paid a fine. Bean also profited from granting divorces, despite lacking the jurisdiction to do so, and married numerous couples, always concluding the wedding ceremonies with the words, "and may God have mercy on your souls."
Bean was defeated in the election of 1886, but the following year, a new precinct was created after Langtry became part of Val Verde County, and he was reappointed as the new justice of the peace. He continued to be elected until 1896 when he was finally defeated. However, in typical "Bean" fashion, he refused to surrender his seal and law book and continued to try all cases north of the railroad tracks.
In 1896, Judge Roy Bean gained national attention by organizing a boxing match in Langtry. Because boxing was outlawed in Texas, he scheduled the heavyweight fight between Robert James Fitzsimmons and Peter Maher on a sandbar on Mexico’s side of the Rio Grande, just south of Langtry. Bean then arranged for the press, spectators, and Texas Rangers to travel by train from El Paso to Langtry. Fitzsimmons knocked Maher out in 95 seconds, claiming the heavyweight title.
For years, he boasted of his "acquaintance with Miss Langtry," telling everyone that he would one day meet her. When he built a home for himself behind the saloon, he even called it the "Opera House" in anticipation of a visit from the famous actress. Although he never met Lillie Langtry, he frequently wrote to her, and she allegedly wrote back and sent him two pistols, which he treasured for the rest of his life. He also claimed credit for naming the town after her, though it was actually named for railroad man George Langtry.
As he aged, Bean spent much of his time on his porch with a shotgun in his arms, drinking and boasting. However, he was also known to assist the poor in the area.
After a heavy bout of drinking, Bean passed away in his saloon on March 16, 1903, succumbing to lung and heart ailments without ever meeting Lillie Langtry. He was initially buried in Westlawn Cemetery in Del Rio, Texas, but due to the numerous visitors to his grave, he and his son, Samuel, were later re-interred behind the Whitehead Memorial Museum.
Almost a year after his death, Lillie Langtry finally visited his old home. En route from New Orleans to Los Angeles, she paused to listen to the townspeople recount stories of Judge Roy Bean. Of the visit, she would later write, "It was a short visit, but an unforgettable one."
Today, the Jersey Lilly Saloon still stands in Langtry, Texas, along with his home and a museum, serving as a lasting tribute to the legendary "Law West of the Pecos."