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According to the
myth, Roy Bean named his saloon after the love of his life, Lilly Langtry, a
British actress he’d never met. Calling himself the “Law West of the Pecos”, he
is reputed to have sentenced dozens to the gallows, saying “Hang ‘em first try
‘em later”.
In 1882 the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad hired crews to link
San Antonio with El Paso, Texas across 530 miles of scorching Chihuahuan Desert,
infested with bobcats, rattlesnakes and scorpions (called Vinegaroons by local
Texans). Fleeing his marriage and illegal businesses in San Antonio, Roy headed
to Vinegaroon to become a saloonkeeper, serving railroad workers whiskey from a
tent. As his own best customer, he was often drunk and disorderly.
For years, Roy boasted of his “acquaintance with Miss Lilly Langtry”, and
promised locals she would one day arrive and sing in Langtry. In 1886 after his
first saloon was destroyed by fire, Roy rebuilt the Jersey Lilly and constructed
a home for himself across the street, which he called the Opera house,
anticipating the day when Lilly would perform there. Roy never met Miss Lilly,
but he often wrote her, and she is purported to have written back, even sending
him 2 pistols, which he cherished till his dying day.
Contrary to the Larry Mc Murtry novel “Streets of Loredo”, Roy was not gunned
down by a Mexican outlaw on the steps of the Jersey Lilly. In March 1903, Roy
went on a drinking binge in Del Rio and simply died peacefully in his bed the
following morning.
These days, almost 100,000 sightseers visit Langtry each year. “Where’s your
hangin’ tree?” is their most common question. But from the steps from the Jersey
Lilly saloon, one can only see the remnants of an old mesquite tree, a dozen sad
and dusty buildings and the hot,
unforgiving Chihuahua Desert all about. The nearest courtroom is in Del Rio, 50
miles away.
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