The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-04-29
STORY Of ROY
BEANS REIGN
Frontierman's Wonderful Hold
on Cowboy Element
HE JUDGED IN ALL CASES
And Some Queer PrecedentS
Were Established.
HE JUDGED IN ALL CASES

1t was a sad shock to the majesty OF
the law in the wild Southwest WHINE
Squire Bean. of Langtry, Texas, died the
other day. For years His Honor Roy
Bean had manufactured law TO order
and enforced il with fines-and six shoot
ers il necessary.
He was beloved and famous from the
Rio Grande to Frisco as dispenser OF
American justice. He haG been on the
gold coast in the early days, and was
an old time vigilance committee person
flied III one mathis verdicts rendered
while you wait.
Like other pioneer statesmen and first
citizens he ran saloon 1t was called
the Jersey Lily" and was popular
institution in Langtry, a one street from
tier town nesting in a deep canyon of
the Rio Grande. where the railroad
crosses the big river. over the front
door of the saloon. in flaming letters,
was the sign The Jersey Lily
Judge" Roy Bean WAS known every
where as The Law west of the Pecos.
lie was not even a lawyer. but his deci-
sions pleased the people and they called
him Judge" Each day when the over
the canyon he was the centre Of the
crowd on the wide veranda of the Jersey
Lily watching the train. The Judge was
a solid well built man Of seventy years,
of medium height. Under his sombrero
was a fine massive head-a regular
United States Supreme Court head-w:th
gray hair and beard and a face intelli-
gent. expressive and full of quiet bust
ness He wore a checked shirt open at
the throat and trousers held up by one
suspender.
Judge" Beams life had been a part
of the stirring history Of the Southwest.
He was a typical Kentuckian. born away
back in I,-9, went to Independence. Miss,
when d boy; at sixteen made a trip to
Santa Fe whittier Spanish priests
carried civilization and irrigation
within fifty-seven years after the landing
Of Columbus Later Mr.. Bean went with
General Donaphan to Mexico in the early
stages of the Mexican war. where Grant.
Mcclellan, Lee. jefferson Davis and other
famous men won their first spurs. For
forty years Judge Beams life was sue
cession Of wild adventures Even when
T.. tried to settle down to civil life IN
tilitles and shoot a Mexican for robbing
his brothers store. OF the arrest. trial
and escape. his stirring life in FL Paso,
Tombstone, Tuscon and other frontier
towns in the Apache Southwest the in
cidents would make hook of two hun
dred rawhide pages. The man and his
deeds became the talk of the country.
After running a gambling saloon and
dance house in 1s50-51 at San Gabriel
Mission. near Los Angeles. and selling
whisky at the Peno Alto mines in Arizona
he drifted back to Texas and during the
war freighted cotton from Alberton, the
terminus of the first little railroad in the
State. TO Lodi. Eagle Pass and Browns
Vile bringing on his return trips sup
plies for the Confederate government.
When the Southern Pacific was being
built across the plains he opened a saloon
and followed the camps. He first located
near the Pecos. to which he gave the
name Vinegerone. Here he built rock
walls. with a canvas awning for roof.
and sold whisky to the thirsty loborers,
1t was here that he began his so-callcd
judicial career Gamblers fiocked in and
there was so much shooting and such
little cemetery that the contractor in
charge of the works wrote to Governor
ireland and had Roy commissioned as
a justice of the peace and a company Of
Beans judicial career was marked by
those extraordinary decisions which be-
came history.
OF one of hris methods of reaching jus
tice at single sitting the following is told:
An army of Cinnamon. building Mr.. Hunt
ingtons Southern Pacific Railroad. were
sometimes difficult TO manage. They
divided into gangs with white boss in
charge. one day a Chinaman assaulted
the foreman, who replied with a bullet
and killed his man. 4 white rival pre-
ferred charges. and the case came before
Justice Bean. The boss was arrested.
Then a squad of white men. armed to the
teeth. demanded immediate trial for the
prisoner. intending TO release him if de-
clared guilty Judge Bean told them
TO picket their horses and make them
selves at home-he would try the case
next day.
There was wisdom in his action. They
squandered money in the Judges saloon,
until he decided that the statutes contain
Chinaman. So the offender was dis
charged.
Another famous verdict was when the
,Pecos bridge in course Of construction
fen and killed n man. Acting as coroner
the Judge empanelled 4 jury, which
brought in a verdict Of accidental death.
But this is not al" said Judge Bean
81 find on the body revolver and forty
dollars. 1t is contrary TO Texas law to
carry concealed weapons. I therefore
ooniiseate the pistol and fine the de-
ceased forty dollars for this breach 81
law" Then the Judge pat the pistol into
his belt and the forty dollars into his
pocket
On another occasion two Mexican cou-
pies whom he had married returned for
REIMBURSEMENT They said they could not
agree and they proposed 70 swap wives
After the evidence on both sides was
heard the marriage was reversed. the
wives changing husbands. and the Judge
collected SIS from each for his services
Then he remarked them. charging each
an additional IS When the regular judcs
Of the judicial district heard OF the affair
he wrote. 1t is all right this time but
don't do it again.
a favorite method OF Furnishing offend
ers IA ordinary cases was requiring then
TO pay their fines by purchasing heer a
the Jersey Lily saloon and treating III,
crowd. Two dozen bottles OF beer wa.
moderate fine and enabled the judge q
hold his OWE against the opposition sa
Icon.
a noted story Of Judge Beans early ca
reer IS thus narrated by Major Horsc'
Bell. in his "Reminiscences Of a Ranger