Judge Roy Bean
By Martha Rogers

Now
Judge Bean was a colorful character who hauled supplies for the Confederates
near San Antonio during the Civil War. He did marry, but it ended in divorce in
1880 and he settled in a railroad construction camp near the Pecos River where
the Sothern Pacific Railroad men worked hard to complete a bridge over the
Pecos River and thus continue on with the transcontinental route. The community
formed served as a temporary home for thousands of railroad workers and Roy
Bean quickly established a saloon in the tent city of Vinegarroon.
When
it became known that a Justice of the Peace was needed for the area, Roy Bean
was quick to volunteer and on August 2, 1882, he became the only legal authority
in the area. In no time he became the self-proclaimed “Only Law West of the
Pecos.”
In
1882, constructed on the bridge ended and the town of Vinegarroon abandoned.
So, Bean headed northwest and established another little town. He set up a tent
saloon at the camp of Eagle Nest and later built a wooden structure for his
saloon. The town then became Langtry, named after George Langtry.
Because
he admired Lillie Langtry, a well-known British stage actress born in Jersey, England,
Bean named his saloon the Jersey Lilly and boasted of his personal acquaintance
with Lillie although they’d never met. Her name fit the saloon as its
reputation was as disreputable as hers.
Bean
was a notorious lawman who liked to make up his own rules in his judgments. One
such case concerned the law forbidding the carrying of a concealed weapon. When
a young man was arrested and accused of carrying such a weapon. Bean released
him with the following logic.
"That
charge won't stick," pronounced the judge. "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."
Although known as a “hanging
judge,” Bean actually sentenced only two men to hang and one of them escaped.
Horse thieves were usually hanged, but if they returned the horses and paid a
fine, Bean let them go.
In addition to the saloon, Bean
later built a home for himself behind it and called it the “Opera House” in
anticipation of a visit by the famous actress Lilly Langtry. He claimed that he often wrote
to her and allegedly she wrote back and even sent him two pistols. He also took
credit for naming the town after her even though he hadn't.

Although he was buried in
Westlawn Cemetery in Del Rio, Texas, the number of visitors to the site
prompted the removal from there to a re-burial behind the Whitehead Memorial
Museum in the same town.

would be a real blessing to win.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless
Thank you for this most interesting post!
ReplyDeletemauback55 at gmail dot com
What a character! Thank you for sharing the history of Judge Roy Bean.
ReplyDeletetexaggs2000 at gmail dot com
I have never read about Judge Roy Bean; I'd just heard his name as an old west character. Very interesting! sm wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteLove your books
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