Visitor Center: The Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center in Langtry, Texas, along the Rio Grande north of Del Rio, Texas. The center features artifacts from the days this colorful character served as Judge. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com

Jersey Lilly: Roy Bean owned the Jersey Lilly Saloon and conducted court hearings on its front porch. Bean was an odd and unqualified judge but held the position for 20 years. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com

By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos

During our recent visit to west Texas, we made time to stop at the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center in Langtry, Texas. The center features many artifacts and photos from the days of Judge Roy Bean. The center also features Bean’s Jersey Lilly Saloon and his house, which he built behind the saloon.

Another area of the center features a cactus garden, which shows a sampling of the plants grown in the Chihuahuan Desert where the center is located.

Roy Bean was born in Kentucky the youngest of five children, four boys and one girl. The family was poor, and the boys decided to move west in search of a better life.

Roy Bean spent time in San Antonio, Texas, Mexico, San Diego, Calif., and New Mexico before returning to Texas in the 1860s. His young life was quite eventful and colorful. He spent time in jail in California for attempted murder but was able to escape the state and returned to Texas.

He left San Antonio and headed west to the Trans-Pecos Region of Texas, which was the last part of the state settled and part of the Chihuahuan Desert. The railroad was being built in the region and Bean settled in Langtry, Texas just north of Del Rio along the Rio Grande.

With the construction of the railroad, Langtry was booming, and Bean opened the Jersey Lilly Saloon. This was the “wild west” in desperate need of law enforcement. The county officials appointed Saloon owner Roy Bean as Judge. Bean was not qualified for the job and had no law or legal training or education, but he held the title of Judge Roy Bean for 20 years.

Since Bean really had no legal background, “he delivered his own brand of frontier Justice” known as “Law West of the Pecos” as stated on an information panel at the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center. Court was held on the front porch of the Jersey Lilly Saloon. The jury was often made up of Bean’s most active customers at the saloon and it was stated that occasionally a trial was interrupted for a round of drinks from the saloon. This really was the wild west!

Several historical photos at the center featured the saloon as well as the court being held on the front porch. The building in those photos appears just as it does today.

Another twist in Bean’s life was his love of English actress Lillie Langtry whom he named his saloon after. Some say the town was named after her and other reports say the town was named after engineer George Langtry (no relation). Bean never met Lillie Langtry and she never saw the town and saloon named in her honor until 10 months after Judge Roy Bean’s death in 1903.

Hollywood picked up on this colorful, eccentric character and featured him in movies and there was a TV series in the 1950s about Judge Roy Bean. Authors Larry McMurtry, Zane Grey and others have written books based on Bean’s life and actions. Many of these media have fictionalized the story but based their works on Judge Ray Bean.

This was an interesting and enlightening stop along our journey in west Texas. We learned much about the Judge, his life, and his unusual legal career. Times were definitely much different in this part of Texas in the late 1800s.

Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.

The Bar: The bar in the Jersey Lilly Saloon looks much as it did in the 1800s when Judge Roy Bean operated the saloon inside and held court hearings on the porch outside. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com

State Historical Plaque: This state historical plaque in mounted on the wall beside the front door of the Jersey Lilly Saloon in Langtry, Texas. The sign on the wall states “You are now in the original Jersey Lilly saloon. On this exact site and in this very building Judge Roy Bean dispensed hard liquor and harsh justice, all part of his ‘Law West of the Pecos’”. When walking in and around the building, one could only imagine the stories these walls could tell. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com

Opera House: Judge Roy Bean’s house sits behind the Jersey Lilly Saloon. Bean referred to his house as the Opera House because he knew that someday his idol English actress Lillie Langtry would visit him there. She did visit the area but not until 10 months after Roy Bean’s death. The two never met. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com