Judge Roy Bean | |
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| Born | Phantly Roy Bean Jr. 1825 (1825) Mason County, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | March 16, 1903 (aged 77–78) Langtry, Texas, U.S. |
| Burial place | Whitehead Memorial Museum Del Rio, Texas 29°21′06″N100°53′53″W / 29.3517°N 100.8980°W /29.3517; -100.8980 |
| Other names | "Only Law West of the Pecos" |
| Occupation(s) | Justice of the Peace/Coroner/Notary Public Saloon keeper |
| Years active | 1882–1903 |
| Spouse | Virginia Chavez (divorced)[1] |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Joshua Bean (brother) |
Phantly Roy Bean Jr. (c. 1825 – March 16, 1903) was an Americansaloon-keeper andJustice of the Peace inVal Verde County, Texas, who called himself "The Only Law West of thePecos." He held court in his saloon along theRio Grande in a desolate stretch of theChihuahuan Desert. Legend records his jurisprudence as thoroughly abnormal and in many instances comical. Although remembered as ahanging judge who said "hang 'em first and try 'em later," he never had anyone hanged.[2]
Roy Bean was born circa 1825 inMason County, Kentucky, and was the namesake and youngest of five children (four sons and a daughter) of Phantly Roy Bean Sr. (November 21, 1804 – June 13, 1844) and the former Anna Henderson Gore. The family was extremely poor; at age sixteen Bean left home to ride aflatboat toNew Orleans, hoping to find work.
After getting into trouble in New Orleans, Bean fled toSan Antonio, Texas, to join his elder brother Sam.[3] Samuel Gore "Sam" Bean (1819–1903), who had earlier migrated toIndependence, Missouri, was ateamster andbullwhacker.[4] He hauled freight toSanta Fe and then on toChihuahua, Mexico. Sam had moved out of San Antonio after fighting in theMexican–American War.[3][5]
In 1848 the two brothers opened atrading post in theMexican state ofChihuahua. Soon after, Roy Bean shot and killed a Mexicandesperado who had threatened "to kill agringo".[3] To escape being charged with murder by Mexican authorities, Roy and Sam Bean fled west toSonora, Mexico. By the spring of 1849, Roy Bean had moved toSan Diego, California, to live with his elder brotherJoshua Bean. The latter was elected the firstmayor of San Diego the following year, after California became part of the Union.[3]
Considered handsome, Bean competed for the attentions of various local women. A Scotsman named John Collins challenged Bean to a pistol-shooting match on horseback. Bean was left to choose the targets and decided that they would shoot at each other. Theduel was fought on February 24, 1852, and ended with Collins receiving a wound to his right arm.[3] Both men were arrested and charged with assault with intent to murder.
In the two months that he was in jail, Bean received many gifts of flowers, food, wine and cigars from women in San Diego. Hidden in the final gifts he received there were knives that were encased intamales. Bean used the knives to dig through the cell wall and escaped on April 17, 1852. He fled toSan Gabriel, California, where he became a bartender in his elder brother Joshua's "Headquarters Saloon". After Joshua was murdered in November 1852, Bean inherited the saloon.[3] In 1854 Bean courted a young woman who was subsequently kidnapped and forced to marry a Mexican officer. Bean challenged the groom to a duel and killed him. Six of the dead man's friends put Bean on a horse and tied anoose around his neck, leaving him to hang when the horse moved. When he was hanged, the rope stretched and Bean was able to stay alive.[6] The bride, who had been hiding behind a tree, cut the rope, freeing him and saving his life. This experience left Bean with a permanent rope burn and a stiff neck for the rest of his life.[3]
Shortly thereafter, Bean chose to leave California and migrated toNew Mexico to live with Sam, who had been elected the first sheriff ofDoña Ana County.[3][5]
In 1861 Samuel G. and Roy Bean operated a store and saloon on Main Street inPinos Altos (just north ofSilver City) in present-dayGrant County, New Mexico. It advertised liquor and "a fine billiard table". Roy'scannon, which had been used to repel anApacheassault on the town, was displayed in front of the store.[7]
During theCivil War, theConfederate Army had invadedNew Mexico. During theBattle of Glorieta Pass in March 1862, the Confederates lost their supply wagons and were forced to retreat to San Antonio. After taking money from his brother's safe, Bean joined the retreating army. For the remainder of the war, heran the naval blockade by hauling cotton from San Antonio to British ships off the coast atMatamoros and returning with needed supplies.[3] For the next twenty years, Bean lived in San Antonio, working nominally as a teamster. During this time he attempted to run a firewood business by cutting down a neighbor's timber. He then tried to run a dairy business but was soon caught watering down the milk. Bean later worked as a butcher,rustling unbranded cattle from other area ranchers for his business.[3][8]
On October 28, 1866, he married eighteen-year-old Virginia Chavez.[4] Within a year after being married, he was arrested for aggravated assault and threatening his wife's life.[3] Despite the tumultuous marriage, they had four children together: Roy Jr., Laura, Zulema and Sam.[3] The family lived a "poor area of San Antonio named for him....called Beanville".[2] Beanville would have been centered near the present-day corner of South Flores Street and Glenn Avenue not far fromBurbank High School.[3] By the late 1870s Bean was operating a saloon in Beanville and had heard that many construction camps were opening as several railroad companies were working to extend the railroads west.[3] A store owner in Beanville "was so anxious to have this unscrupulous character out of the neighborhood" that she bought all of Bean's possessions for $900 so that he could leave San Antonio. At the time, Bean and his wife were separated and he had left his children with friends as he prepared to go west.[3]
With the money he received, Bean purchased a tent, some supplies to sell, and ten 55-gallon barrels of whiskey. By the spring of 1882, he had established a small saloon near the Pecos River in a tent city he named Vinegaroon.[9] Within 20 miles (32 km) of the tent city were 8,000 railroad workers. The nearest court was 120 miles (190 km) away atFort Stockton, and there were few means to stop illegal activity. ATexas Ranger requested that a local law jurisdiction be set up in Vinegaroon, and on August 2, 1882, Bean was appointedjustice of the peace for the new Precinct 6 inPecos County.[3] His first case, however, had been heard earlier, on 25 July 1882, when Texas Rangers brought in Joe Bell to be tried.[10]
One of his first acts as a justice of the peace was to "shoot [...] up the saloon shack of aJewish competitor".[3] Bean then turned his tent saloon into a part-time courtroom and began calling himself the "Only Law West of the Pecos".[3] As a judge, Bean relied on a single law book, the 1879 edition of theRevised Statutes of Texas, and when newer law books showed up he used them askindling.[3][2] Bean did not allow hung juries or appeals. Jurors, who were chosen from his best bar customers, were expected to buy a drink during every court recess.[3] He was also known for his unusual rulings. In one case, anIrishman named Paddy O'Rourke shot a Chinese laborer. During the trial, a mob of 200 angry Irishmen surrounded the courtroom and saloon, threatening to lynch Bean if O'Rourke was not freed. After looking through his law book, Bean ruled that "homicide was the killing of a human being; however, he could find no law against killing aChinaman" and subsequently dismissed the case.[3][11][12]
By December 1882, railroad construction had moved farther westward and Bean moved his courtroom and saloon 70 miles (110 km) to Strawbridge (nowSanderson). He sent for his children, who then lived with him at the saloon, with his youngest son Sam sleeping on a pool table.[3] A competitor who was already established in the area laced Bean's whiskey withkerosene.[8] Unable to attract customers, Bean left the area and moved to Eagle's Nest, 20 miles (32 km) west of the Pecos River, which was soon renamedLangtry.[3]
The original owner of the land, who ran a saloon, had sold 640 acres (2.59 km2) to the railroad on the condition that no part of the land could be sold or leased to Bean. O'Rourke, the Irishman whose case Bean had previously dismissed, told Bean to use the railroad right-of-way, which was not covered by the contract, and for the next 20 years Beansquatted on land he had no legal right to use.[3][2][9] Bean named his new saloon The Jersey Lilly in honor ofLillie Langtry, who recounted in her autobiography that she had visited the area after Bean's death.[3][2][13] She did, however, send to Bean a pair of Colt .45 pistols.[14] Langtry did not have a jail – although it is reported that outside The Jersey Lilly was a large oak tree with a heavy log chain that served as a "jail" for those unable to pay their fines; fines settled all cases. Bean refused to send the state any part of the fines, and kept all of the money.[11] In most cases, the fines were made for the exact amount the accused person was carrying.
Bean was noted for his unusual verdicts, some of which are reported to have been:[12]
Bean won re-election to his post in 1884, but was defeated in 1886. The following year, the commissioner's court created a new precinct in the county and appointed Bean to be the new justice of the peace. He continued to be re-elected until 1896. Even after the election defeat, he "refused to surrender hisseal and law book and continued to try all cases north of the tracks".[3]
In 1890, Bean received word that railroad developer and speculatorJay Gould was planning to pass through Langtry on a special train. Bean flagged down thetrain using a danger signal. Thinking the bridge was out, the train engineer stopped the train. Bean then invited Gould and his daughter to visit the saloon as his guests. The Goulds visited for two hours, causing a brief panic on theNew York Stock Exchange when it was reported that Gould had been killed in a train crash.[3]
In 1896, Bean organized a world championshipboxing title bout betweenBob Fitzsimmons andPeter Maher on an island in theRio Grande because boxing matches were illegal in bothTexas and Mexico.[2]The fight, won by Fitzsimmons, lasted only 1 minute and 35 seconds, but the resulting sport reports spread Bean's fame throughout the United States.[3]
As he aged, Bean spent much of his profits helping the poor of the area and always made sure that the local schoolhouse had free firewood in the winter.[3] In January 1901 Bean stated that a claim for damages of $13,000 from Apache depredations of his mules would certainly be allowed.[18]
Bean died peacefully in his bed on March 16, 1903, after a bout of heavy drinking inSan Antonio. He and his son, Sam Bean (1874–1907), are interred at theWhitehead Memorial Museum inDel Rio.[3][19] In 1965, as part of the Civil War Centennial commemoration in Texas, an official Texas Historical Marker honoring Bean was erected on the museum grounds.[20]
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