Chautauqua features Judge Roy Bean

The legendary and colorful Judge Roy Bean comes to life on Nov. 13 at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum.

Randy Milligan of Carlsbad will portray the judge in a Chautauqua performance at 7 p.m. in the museum's theater. Admission is free and the performance is co-sponsored by the New Mexico Humanities Council.

Judge Roy Bean, known as the Law West of the Pecos, was a man who took advantage of being in the right place at the right time. He came west hauling goods along the Santa Fe Trail, knowing that he could sell them for profit when he arrived.

When he built his tent saloons in the "Hell Towns" that followed the railroads, he knew where the business was going to be and he chased after it. When he founded Langtry, Texas, he knew where the railroad lines were going to meet and he sat near the intersection and served both crews of thirsty, love-starved gambling men. And when trouble would erupt between the rival crews, he would act as the law and peacemaker.

Bean had an interesting New Mexico history, as well. His brother was the sheriff of Mesilla, so he worked for him for awhile. Then he moved on to the mines of Silver City and worked as a miner for some time. During the Civil War, he joined a Confederate unit in New Mexico that defeated a Union army more than twice its size.

Frontier justice is the real story of Judge Roy Bean. How one man could have had so much power and control over a huge area, and yet keep the wild, untamed territory under some sort of law and order is a credit to his unique spirit.

Milligan is an instructor at NMSU-Carlsbad, and has portrayed everyone from Mark Twain to Colonel Mustard in plays and Chautauquas, as well as both Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt.