Roy Bean

Phantly Roy Bean, Jr. (1825-1903), self-styled “Law West of the Pecos,” was an eccentric American saloon-keeper and Justice of the Peace in Val Verde County, Texas. According to legend, he held court in his saloon along the Rio Grande on a desolate stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert of southwest Texas.

Southwestern historian and folklorist, C. L. Sonnichsen, lived near Judge Bean’s house for several years and decided to pen this biography, first published in 1943, owing to his belief that it was “high time for somebody to look into his history and see how a Roy Bean ever came to be at all.” Roy Bean: Law West of the Pecos examines Judge Bean’s legendary, as well as factual background and makes for a fascinating read.