Phantly Roy Bean Jr. (c. 1825 – March 16, 1903) was an American saloon-keeper and Justice of the Peace in Val Verde County, Texas, who called himself "The Only Law West of the Pecos".

According to legend, he held court in his saloon along the Rio Grande on a desolate stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert of southwest Texas.

The family was extremely poor; at age sixteen Bean left home to ride a flatboat to New Orleans, hoping to find work.

[2] To escape being charged with murder by Mexican authorities, Roy and Sam Bean fled west to Sonora, Mexico.

In the two months that he was in jail, Bean received many gifts of flowers, food, wine and cigars from women in San Diego.

[2] Shortly thereafter, Bean chose to leave California and migrated to New Mexico to live with Sam, who had been elected the first sheriff of Doña Ana County.

[2][4] In 1861 Samuel G. and Roy Bean operated a store and saloon on Main Street in Pinos Altos (just north of Silver City) in present-day Grant County, New Mexico.

During the Battle of Glorieta Pass in March 1862, the Confederates lost their supply wagons and were forced to retreat to San Antonio.

For the remainder of the war, he ran the naval blockade by hauling cotton from San Antonio to British ships off the coast at Matamoros and returning with needed supplies.

[8] Beanville would have been centered near the present-day corner of South Flores Street and Glenn Avenue not far from Burbank High School.

[2] A store owner in Beanville "was so anxious to have this unscrupulous character out of the neighborhood" that she bought all of Bean's possessions for $900 so that he could leave San Antonio.

A Texas Ranger requested that a local law jurisdiction be set up in Vinegaroon, and on August 2, 1882, Bean was appointed justice of the peace for the new Precinct 6 in Pecos County.

[2] Bean then turned his tent saloon into a part-time courtroom and began calling himself the "Only Law West of the Pecos".

During the trial, a mob of 200 angry Irishmen surrounded the courtroom and saloon, threatening to lynch Bean if O'Rourke was not freed.

[7] Unable to attract customers, Bean left the area and moved to Eagle's Nest, 20 miles (32 km) west of the Pecos River, which was soon renamed Langtry.

[2] In 1890, Bean received word that railroad developer and speculator Jay Gould was planning to pass through Langtry on a special train.

[8] The fight, won by Fitzsimmons, lasted only 1 minute and 35 seconds, but the resulting sport reports spread Bean's fame throughout the United States.

[2] As he aged, Bean spent much of his profits helping the poor of the area and always made sure that the local schoolhouse had free firewood in the winter.