Roy Bean

Roy Bean (born 1825?, Mason County, Ky., U.S.—died March 16, 1903, Langtry, Texas) was a justice of the peace and saloonkeeper who styled himself as the “law west of the Pecos.”

For much of his life from the time he left his Kentucky home in 1847, Bean moved from town to town—in Mexico, Southern California, New Mexico, and Texas—getting into and fleeing from one scrape after another, killing at least two men in duels. During the Civil War he first served with Confederate regulars and then was a blockade runner in Texas, becoming so prosperous that he could live married in San Antonio for some 16 years at ease. In 1882 he moved on, west of the Pecos River, and set up a saloon, the Jersey Lilly, next to a railroad line through Dead Man’s Canyon. He named the site Langtry (after the actress Lillie Langtry) and eventually established himself as justice of the peace, with the approval of the Texas Rangers. He knew neither law nor court procedure and became celebrated for his rulings, which were variously hard, common-sensical, and prankish; he once reportedly fined a dead man $40 for carrying a concealed weapon and pocketed the proceeds.