Bean, Roy

born 1825?, Mason county, Ky., U.S.

died March 16, 1903, Langtry, Texas

U.S. justice of the peace and saloonkeeper.

He left Kentucky in 1847 and moved from town to town, killing at least two men in duels, before settling in Texas. During the American Civil War he first served with Confederate regulars and then was a blockade runner in Texas, becoming so prosperous that he was able to live at ease in San Antonio for some 16 years. In 1882 he moved to a site on the lower Pecos River that he named for Lillie Langtry, opened a saloon, and dispensed hard, commonsensical, and prankish rulings as an unofficial magistrate, styling himself the "law west of the Pecos."

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▪ American lawman and saloonkeeper

born 1825?, Mason County, Ky., U.S.

died March 16, 1903, Langtry, Texas

      justice of the peace and saloonkeeper who styled himself 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.

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