THE LAW west of the Pecos

THE LAW west of the Pecos.

Departing the Marfa and Alpine area, we drove south-east on Highway 90, roughly paralleling the Texas-Mexico border. 

Other than US Border Patrol agents stationed every few miles, there wasn't much of interest to see.

That all changed when we stopped for a break at the turn off to Langtry, Texas - population 15 souls.

At one time, in the late 1800's, the town had a train depot, general store, post office and a saloon or two. It was quite a rough, and unruly town, becoming even more "lawless" with the arrival of a newly minted Justice of the Peace, by the name of ...... Roy Bean.

Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center in Langtry, TX

The Bean boys (Roy and brothers, Sam and Joshua) had had quite the checkered history; keeping a few steps ahead of the law in California. Joshua was elected San Diego's first mayor, then murdered sometime later. Quite the swain, Roy was assisted in escaping from jails by devoted girlfriends, and cut down from a hanging rope by a bride he had just helped become a widow. All this and he still had time to marry an 18 year old at the age of 40, with whom he fathered 4 children.

After finding California inhospitable, Roy Bean (and family) moved to TX to sell whiskey, and stepped up to become a J.P. Holding his court in the Jersey Lilly Saloon, which he happened to own, he pronounced himself THE LAW west of the Pecos (River).

The Jersey Lilly Saloon (and Judge Bean Courtroom)

The jurors were chosen from his most loyal bar patrons and were expected to buy drinks to assist in coming to a timely verdict. Since the town did not have a jail, most cases were settled by fines. Those fines usually corresponded to the amount of money the accused had in their pockets. Unsurprisingly, none of that money made it out of Langtry. 

Though he was called "The Hanging Judge", that was largely a creation of Hollywood fiction (imagine that!). Judge Bean only sentenced 2 men to hang and one of them escaped. He also relied heavily on his "Law Library" of a single book. If newer versions of the publication arrived, they became kindling.

Book Learnin' - Roy Bean Style

Later in life, Roy Bean became enamored with British stage actress, Lilly Langtry. He courted (read: stalked) her from afar, writing many amorous letters,  sending gifts, naming the saloon in her honor and building an opera house for her Texas debut. He even claimed to have named the town for her...Not! Sadly, Ms. Langtry finally came to visit several years after Judge Bean had died.

Oddly enough, the oddity doesn't stop there. In 1955, a Mr. Willingham, a former Air Force Reserve pilot claimed that while piloting a F-86 jet fighter in the area, a UFO zipped past his aircraft to crash just inside Mexico, near Langtry. Though described as the "Del Rio, TX UFO Incident", the aliens were probably just en route to rendezvous with colleagues in Roswell.

Nonetheless, Langtry, TX has an unusually nice visitor center with xeriscaped garden, friendly staff and a most colorful history to explore.

Barbara & Paul