Judge Roy Bean, the "Law West of the Pecos"
Judge Roy Bean, the Law West of the Pecos, was a character in many early western movies such as “The Westerner” starring Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan. The judge is not a fictional character though, he really lived. The last decades of the 1800's were eventful times with distant sections of the country being stitched together by steel rails. New towns and tent camps of construction gangs sprang up at the end of the rail lines. They were wild, lawless places, crowded with railroad workers and those who preyed on them – thieves, card sharks and “painted women.” By 1882, the situation was so bad that the railroad asked for help from the Texas Rangers. With the closest legal authority more than 100 miles away in Fort Stockton, Texas, the railroad and the Texas Rangers urged the appointment of a Justice of the Peace.
Roy Bean was proprietor of a “store” in Vinegroon, a tent-topped consruction camp named after whip-tailed scorpions that infested the area. He became the first Justice of the Peace for Pecos County (now Val Verde County) on August 2, 1882. The lawlessness created such a desperate need for legal authority that Bean, never one to stand on ceremeony, tried his first case the week before officially assuming the post. The next year, Bean moved his court to the new railroad-sponsored town of Langtry, Texas. There, with the railroad and Rangers to back him up, he established a colorful brand of justice that made him the “Law West of the Pecos.”
The judge's law library consisted of a single volume of an 1879 copy of the Revised Statutes of Texas. He seldom consulted it, however, calling instead on his own ideas about the brand of justice which should apply. Since Langtry had no jail, all offenses were deemed finable with Bean pocketing the fines. Drunken prisoners often were chained to mesquite trees in front of the building until they sobered up enough to stand trial.
Many Roy Bean tales center on his fascination for the famous English actress Lillie Langtry, internationally known as “the Jersey Lily.” So great was his admiration that he named his establishment after her. An itinerant sign painter commissioned (for food and drink) to letter Bean's sing misspelled “Lily” and the ancient sign still proclaims “The Jersey Lilly.” Roy Bean never met his idol, though he may have seen her perform in San Antonio. He nailed a sign on his home delaring it “Opera House, Town Hall and Seat of Justice,” hoping the actress would perform there someday. He wrote her numerous letters, which she apparently did not acknowledge until Bean wrote that he named the town for her. She finally accepted his invitation to visit “her” town, but that visit did not take place until 1904, several months after the judge died.
Railroad historians claim Langtry was named for one of their construction foremen, but no one told Miss Langtry that.
The Jersey Lilly and Roy Bean's home still stand as they did when Roy Bean presided there.
The exterior view of the Jersey Lilly. This was a two room building with the left side being the bar and court room and the right side being a pool hall.
The interior of the bar room, looking in both directions.
The interior of the pool hall. The pool table has since disappeared, but its legs remain sitting in a corner. Judge Roy Bean died in this room on 16 March, 1903.
Judge Bean's home. I was a one room building. In one corner was his bed and the stove occupied another corner.
Interior view of Bean's home.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by E B
