Judge Roy Bean and the Old West

[wildbillhickok]

need to keep this section going...
 
Roy Bean came from very poor humble beginnings in Kentucky and left for California and New Mexico at an early age...he killed a man down in Mexico and high tailed it back to California...always running cons and on the move...he ended up in San Antonio selling whiskey and milk out of a tent to locals...he'd water down both to make them stretch further...dipping the water out of a nearby creek...once, a customer found a minnow swimming around in his glass of milk and complained...Bean cursed saying them cows was drinkin' too much creek water.
 
He married a 15 year old Mexican girl and started a family...but ran off after awhile...he was a rolling stone that craved more action. One day he caught a lucky break...Commissioners in a Texas county made him justice of the peace, and while 3/4 drunk, Bean accepted. He became an even more colorful character...becoming known as the hangin' judge...oddly enough, this probably wasn't true...sometimes he'd stage a hanging, just to scare and intimidate rowdy cowboys...he may have never hanged anyone...
 
Now, JUDGE Roy Bean, built a small 2 room saloon/courthouse/poolroom...out of which he dispensed justice, based on his 'arbitrary' rulings...one well known story had him fining a dead man with $40 and a pistol on him...Judge Bean fined him $40 for carrying a concealed weapon...'That's my rulin' (his favorite saying) ...and the judge always packed a firearm.
     Another case brought before him, an Irishman, who'd killed a Chinese man...friends of the Irishman were hovering around, saying if their buddy was found guilty, that they'd burn the saloon down...Judge Bean quickly found in his lawbook a ruling that said murder was a hanging offense, but it contained no mention of killing Chinese...so he let the Irishman go...'That's my rulin'...another lucky break that he'd 'found' this ruling.
 
The Judge loved shooting pool and playing poker and selling alcohol to drifters and people passing through, as many would get off a train at this rest stop...(often the Judge was one his own best customers for whiskey)...many train customers wouldn't have the correct change and the judge would linger in giving them their change...when the train's whistle would blow, customers would swear and curse the judge for their change...then the judge would fine them the exact amount for swearing...few would chance missing their train for the change. Lucky for the Judge, the train came by his establishment, as it vastly increased his wealth.
 
Another possible myth was that the judge had a pet bear he kept....it likely got twisted around and was actually a mountain lion that he kept chained to a tree around to the side of the saloon.
Despite having alot of con in him, the judge often gave 'collected' monies to the poor people around his saloon, as he figured this would help balance the ledger someday in heaven.
Judge Roy Bean had quite a reputation for being tough, much of it only perception and
fake bravado. In his late 70's he literally drunk himself to death one day...they found him dead in his bed in the backroom with the pool table. Bad break to have drunk too much that day.
 
Lessons in Life?
 
1) Everyone can have their 15 minutes of fame...don't let it go to your head, but think big and follow your passions, so long as they be good and right.
2) Always seek to help others in need
3) Caveat - Everyone has their demons that haunt them, ...it often leads to drinking too much...strive to lead a balanced life, and beware excess in anything.
4) Always keep, sometimes pack,  and  never give up your firearms.
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[Jay Edward (deceased)]

Thanks for the 'read' WBH. I've never seen much on the Judge Bean...a couple of movies (which were probably wildly inaccurate) and that's all.

One of the benefits of today's movies is that they make somewhat of an effort to get the history right. I do not think anyone can complain much about the equipment in today's westerns...only about the holsters and, perhaps, just when the lever action was introduced. One of the stupidest scenes in today's westerns is that absolutely ludicrous episode with Costner, the buffalo and the .44 rimfire. I see now that he represents an expert voice with the heyday of the American West and the Indian fights/lifestyle. Phooey!

But I digress...about Judge Bean and the real American West...I tend to believe that he built his 'hanging' reputation on what he was 'going to do' rather on an accomplished fact. I used the same tactic on my children but to hear them speak...you'd think I was a prime candidate for the child abuse hotline. Time did not lend focus in that case.

The 'wild and wooly West' may have been a little less 'wild' than is generally thought. Many folks had a 'code of conduct', 'a sense of honor' and a general biblical morality that is not considered now. Judge Bean, like many westerners, may have had a wry sense of humor that allowed him to survive amongst some rowdy types.

However, he does seem to have had the true American 'business' traits. Let the buyer beware.