|
|
"I'M
FINING YOU $45 and a round of drinks for the jury,
and that's my ruling!" The gravel smacked the
bar of the Jersey Lilly saloon, and another case was
settled according to the
"Law West of the Pecos."
|
|
UDGE
ROY BEAN of Langtry was the law west of
the Pecos. The West's most colorful
justice of the peace, he ruled America's
last frontier in the last decades of the
19th Century. He ruled with his own
brand of justice, and set his indelible
stamp on the rugged Texas land west of
the Pecos River.
Volumes have been written
about his unconventional code and
strange but often expedient decisions
pronounced in the combination saloon,
billiard hall and courtroom that Judge
Bean called the "Jersey
Lilly."
Tales about the Judge
multiplied until he became a legend --
even in his own time. Many are
undoubtedly pure fiction, but some of
the most colorful stories are historical
fact -- like Bean's successful promotion
of the Maher-Fitzsimmons prize fight in
February 1896, staged in defiance of
U.S., Mexico and Texas Ranger authority.
|
|
|
|
|
