Texana Thursday: 3 Fun Facts about Judge Roy Bean and the Law West of the Pecos

Many Texas and Western aficionados have seen the iconic photo of Judge Roy Bean’s saloon in Langtry, in Southwest Texas, where he promoted himself as the law West of the Pecos.

Bean (1825-1903) was born in Kentucky. He came to Texas before the Civil War and was authorized a notary public and a justice of the peace in 1882.

He had a large jurisdiction. Langtry sits on the Mexican border. It is 60 miles northwest Del Rio and 212 miles west of San Antonio.

Until Bean’s appointment, Texas Rangers had to transport prisoners to Fort Stockton, 126 miles to the northwest. Having a local judge to deal with cases saved everyone time and money.

Bean was an unconventional judge. He had to be. His law library consisted of one volume, which he rarely consulted.

There was a case in which a man carrying a pistol fell off a bridge to his death. Bean ruled that the corpse was unlawfully carrying a firearm and issued a $40 fine.

Chinese laborers were used to build many of the railroad tracks during that era. In one case, a railroad worker killed a Chinese laborer. The accused murderer’s friends attended the trial and were prepared to riot had the man been found guilty. With no way to keep order on the streets, such as they were in Langtry, Bean ruled that it was illegal to kill a man but it was not illegal to kill a Chinese.

Other fun facts about Bean include:

1. His saloon was named for his favorite actress.

Lilly Langtry (1853-1929) was a British actress, producer, and socialite. She made some appearances in Texas during her career, and exchanged letters with Bean, who was a great admirer. It’s unlikely the two actually met, however.

Bean named his saloon the Jersey Lilly in her honor. It had no jail.

2. Langtry was named for an engineer, and not for Lilly Langtry.

Legend has Bean that he named the town Langtry in her honor. However, records from that time and place suggest that the town was named for George Langtry, a railroad engineer.

Lilly visited Langtry on a 1904 transcontinental tour. But Bean had died in 1903. He was buried in Del Rio.

3. Bean lives in in folklore.

Judge Bean’s story has been reproduced, with dramatic license to be sure, in various books and movies. Perhaps the most famous of the movies is The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972). The actor Paul Newman played Bean.