20. The law west of the Pecos
Judge Roy Bean is known in American folklore as a hanging judge, eager to pronounce guilt and move on to the execution at his saloon and courthouse in a tent city which he named Vinegaroon. Bean occasionally consulted a law book, the Revised Statutes of the State of Texas 1879 Edition, but for the most part he relied on his own common sense and the reports delivered to him by Texas Rangers and other peace officers. His jurors were not allowed to present themselves as unable to arrive at a verdict. Bean selected the jury himself, and during recesses they were required to purchase a drink from his saloon. He was officially appointed as Justice of the Peace for the district in August 1882, over a month after hearing his first case.
Depicted in the media of film and television as a hanging judge, Bean only sentenced two men to that fate during his tenure on the bench. He once dismissed a case because after consulting his law book he announced that he could not find a law which specifically prohibited killing a Chinese. Bean also conducted divorces and pocketed the fees, since under Texas law he was not allowed to grant divorces and if he sent the fees to the higher court he was liable to being disciplined. He also performed weddings, ending the ceremony by announcing, “…and may God have mercy on your soul”. Bean later became a boxing promoter and gained national fame before dying in his sleep in 1903.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“The Pilgrims and the Rock”. Francis Russell, American Heritage Magazine. October 1962
“George Washington was a Famously Powerful Athlete”. George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Online
“Shanties from the Seven Seas”. Edited by Stan Hugill, 1994
“The Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving”. Andrew Burstein. 2008
“The John Henry Who Might Have Been”. Allan Kozinn, The New York Times. November 22, 2009
“Potato Creek Johnny”. The Black Hills Visitor. Online
“The Case of the Christmas Poem”. Joe Nickell, Manuscripts. Fall, 2002
“The Swamp Fox”. Amy Crawford, Smithsonian Magazine. June 30, 2007
“The Legend and Truth of Betsy Ross”. Gene Langley, The Christian Science Monitor. June 14, 2002
“Exploring the Alamo Legends”. Wallace O. Charlton. 1992
“The Wonderful Leaps of Sam Patch”. Richard M. Dorson, American Heritage Magazine. December 1966
“Paul Bunyan and Tony Beaver Tales”. Charles Edward Brown. 1930
“Pittsfield uncovers earliest written reference to game”. Associated Press. ESPN. May 12, 2004
“Bunk-Shanty Ballads and Tales”. James Stevens. Oregon Historical Quarterly.
“Gun Control Is as Old as the Old West”. Matt Jancer, Smithsonian Magazine. February 5, 2018
“My Mark Twain”. William Dean Howells. 1997
“The Planting of Judge Roy Bean”. Mark Boardman, True West Magazine. May 3, 2017