A Judge Who Was Also A Saloon-Keeper
Hired on the fly to lay down the law in a lawless land, Judge Roy Bean practiced his own brand of justice from behind the bar of a saloon. With a checkered past and no formal education, Bean had unusual methods, but they seemed to work in maintaining peace in Pecos County, Texas.
A Character With A Murky Past
Roy Bean was born in Kentucky back in 1825, and left home at a young age. After drifting down to New Orleans and onward into Texas, Bean opened a trading post with a brother in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. There, Bean got into a gunfight that ended in the demise of a Mexican desperado. Bean fled the area to avoid charges by Mexican authorities, making his way to San Diego, California where another of his older brothers, Joshua, was the mayor.
Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Wikimedia Commons
A Hit With The Ladies
The young Bean was considered a devilishly handsome ladies’ man, and he soon found himself in conflict with other men in San Diego. After wounding a man in a duel, Bean wound up in jail where he received a steady flow of gifts from local women. One of these gifts was a delivery of tamales that had a knife hidden inside them. Bean used the knife to dig through his cell wall and make a daring escape from jail. But Bean soon found himself in trouble again.
Surviving A Hanging
Bean inherited a saloon in San Gabriel, California from his brother Joshua, who’d lost his life in another fight over a woman. Roy Bean then got involved with a woman who was engaged to a Mexican officer. Bean challenged the officer to a duel and won, with fatal results for his opponent. The victim’s friends placed Bean on a horse with a noose around his neck that would hang him when the horse moved, but the rope had enough stretch to spare Bean’s life. Deciding to cut his losses, Bean fled to New Mexico, and then on to Texas.
SMU Central University Libraries, Wikimedia Commons
Bean Sets Up Shop
Bean lived the next 20 years in San Antonio, getting married along the way. He and wife Virginia Chavez had four kids together. But Bean was far too unruly a character to stay in this situation much longer. He headed west in 1882 to run a saloon for the thirsty railroad workers who were laying track across the lonely territory of West Texas. It was there that he found his claim to fame.
A Chaotic Situation
The county commissioners and Texas rangers agreed that they didn’t have the resources to police the rowdy railway worker encampments and surrounding areas. Though Roy Bean had found himself on the wrong side of the law for most of his life, he was soon appointed the county justice of the peace by the desperate local authorities.
An Unorthodox Court
In his new position of responsibility, Bean carried out his duties from behind the bar of his saloon called “The Jersey Lilly” after his favorite actress Lillie Langtry. Referring to a Texas book of statutes, and using his 41-caliber revolver as a gavel, his rulings didn’t always fit people’s notion of fair justice, especially in the case of the killer of a Chinese railway worker. Bean acquitted the man after his Irish railway worker cohorts threatened a riot. Most of his other cases treated far less serious matters.
Not A Hanging Judge
Though Bean acquired the reputation as a hanging judge, he never had anyone hanged. He sometimes staged hangings to discourage would-be lawbreakers, but often let guilty men off with fines. One unusual case involved the discovery of a dead man with a pistol in his pocket and $40. Bean fined the deceased $40 for carrying a concealed weapon. Unsuccessful in his own marriage, Bean wryly ended all wedding ceremonies with the remark, “and may God have mercy on your souls”.
Daniel Schwen, Wikimedia Commons
A Colorful But Tough Character Joins The Wild West Legend
Despite his eccentric ways, Judge Roy Bean was repeatedly re-elected until 1896, and continued in private law practice until he passed away in 1903. Bean’s youth showed him to be a much harder and more dangerous character than his later judicial career would indicate. His life was the subject of three westerns, including The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) starring Paul Newman in the title role.
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Judge Roy Bean Today
Judge Roy Bean’s original saloon and courthouse still stands in the town of Langtry, Texas as part of a museum and visitor center. It’s a fitting memorial to the life and times of one of the Wild West’s most unusual characters.
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