Judge Roy Bean is an American legend, almost mythical in popular folk lore.
In 1862 Bean moved to Texas on the heels of a retreating Confederate army. He established a saloon near the Pecos River in 1882 that he called Vinegaroon, after a kind of arachnid.
Bean used the 1879 version of the Revised Statutes of Texas. Bar customers served as jurors and were required to buy drinks during trials. Bean later relocated his courtroom/bar to just west of the Pecos River. The new saloon was named Jersey Lilly after actress Lillie Langtry.
In the Jersey Lilly, sentences were handed down and marriages were performed. Fines were limited to the sum the convicted culprit possessed at the time. During his tenure Bean handed down only two death sentences, one of which was carried out. The other convict apparently managed to escape.
In 1972 Bean was immortalized in the Paul Newman film “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean.” The movie is comical and mostly fiction.
Bean died March 16, 1903. He died in bed after a night of heavy drinking.
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