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N0KFQ > TODAY 16.03.15 15:45l 69 Lines 3063 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 50322_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 16
Path: IZ3LSV<IR1UAW<IQ5KG<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 150316/1445Z 50322@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.63
1903
Judge Roy Bean dies
Roy Bean, the self-proclaimed "law west of the Pecos," dies in
Langtry, Texas.
A saloonkeeper and adventurer, Bean's claim to fame rested on the
often humorous and sometimes-bizarre rulings he meted out as a
justice of the peace in western Texas during the late 19th
century. By then, Bean was in his 50s and had already lived a
life full of rough adventures.
Born in Kentucky some time during the 1820s, Bean began getting
into trouble at an early age. He left home in 1847 with his
brother Sam and lived a rogue's life in Mexico until he shot a
man in a barroom fight and had to flee. He next turned up in San
Diego, where he enjoyed playing the dashing caballero. Again he
shot a man during a quarrel and was forced to leave town quickly.
He fell into the same old habits in Los Angeles, eventually
killing a Mexican officer in a duel over a woman. Angry friends
of the officer hanged Bean in revenge, but luckily, the rope
stretched and Bean managed to stay alive until the woman he had
fought for arrived to cut him down. Bearing rope scars on his
neck that remained throughout his life, Bean left California to
take up a less risky life in New Mexico and Texas.
For about 16 years, Bean lived a prosperous and relatively
legitimate life as a San Antonio businessman. In 1882, he moved
to southwest Texas, where he built his famous saloon, the Jersey
Lilly, and founded the hamlet of Langtry. Saloon and town alike
were named for the famous English actress, Lillie Langtry. Bean
had never met Langtry, but he had developed an abiding affection
for the beautiful actress after seeing a drawing of her in an
illustrated magazine. For the rest of his life, he avidly
followed Langtry's career in theatre magazines.
Before founding Langtry, Bean had also secured an appointment as
a justice of the peace and notary public. He knew little about
the law or proper court procedures, but residents appreciated and
largely accepted his common sense verdicts in the sparsely
populated country of West Texas.
Bean was often deliberately humorous or bizarre in his rulings,
once fining a dead man $40 for carrying a concealed weapon. He
threatened one lawyer with hanging for using profane language
when the hapless man referred to the "habeas corpus" of his
client. Less amusing was Bean's decision to free a man accused of
killing a Chinese rail worker on the grounds that Bean knew of no
law making it a crime "to kill a Chinaman."
By the 1890s, reports of Bean's curmudgeonly rulings had made him
nationally famous. Travelers on the train passing through Langtry
often made a point of stopping to visit the ramshackle saloon,
where a sign proudly proclaimed Bean to be the "Law West of the
Pecos."
Bean fell ill during a visit to San Antonio. He returned to
Langtry, where he died on March 16, 1903. Lillie Langtry, the
object of Bean's devoted adoration, visited the village named in
her honor only 10 months after Bean died.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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