About Me
My name is Roy Bean. I am "The Law West of the Pecos". I hold court in my saloon along the Rio Grande River in a desolate stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert of west Texas.I was born to Phantly Roy Bean nd Anna Gore in Mason County, Kentucky, a very long time ago.
At about the age of 15, I left home, seeking adventure in the West with my two older brothers, Sam and Joshua. With brother Sam, I traveled by wagon train to what would later become New Mexico, then crossed the Rio Grande and set up a trading post in Chihuahua, Mexico. After killing a local rascal, I fled to California, staying with my other brother Joshua, who became the first mayor of San Diego.
I worked as a bartender in my brother's saloon, "The Headquarters", and was later appointed by him a lieutenant in the state militia. On February 24, 1852, I was arrested after wounding a man named Collins in a duel. I escaped in April 17, and when my mayor brother was killed a few months later by a rival in a romantic triangle, I headed back to New Mexico, where Sam had become a sheriff.
I tended bar in Sam's saloon for several years and supplemented my income by smuggling guns from Mexico through the Union blockade during the American Civil War.On October 28, 1866, I married a Mexican woman. We settled in San Antonio, Texas, and throughout the 1870s, I supported my family by peddling stolen firewood and selling watered-down milk. My notorious business practices eventually earned mys San Antonio neighborhood the nickname Beanville.In 1882, the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad hired crews to link San Antonio with El Paso. I headed to Vinegaroon, an "end of track" tent city, to become a saloonkeeper, serving railroad workers whiskey from a tent.County commissioners, eager to establish some sort of local law enforcement, appointed me as the justice of the peace for Pecos County. I packed up and moved north from Vinegaroon to a small tent city on a bluff above the Rio Grande which I named named Langtry in honor of
the beautiful British actress, Lillie Langtry.I had read about Miss Langtry and became enchanted with her. I built a saloon I named the Jersey Lily (her nickname) that also served as my home. I hung a picture of Miss Langtry behind the bar.Above the door I posted signs proclaiming "ICE COLD BEER" and "LAW WEST OF THE PECOS." because I use my saloon as a combination bar-courtroom-billiard parlor-jail.My court paraphernalia includes only one revolver, one law book and a pet bear. When performing marriage ceremonies, I always end the service by saying "And may God have mercy on your soul."
