Inside City Hall, 24 September 2008

What would you say?

Fall is always welcome by the natives of these parts. Don’t you just love these cooler mornings? A cool morning is worth a good sweat in the afternoon. It’s time for those early morning walks you’ve been putting off all summer. Get outside and enjoy it, while “it” lasts.
Late in 1882 the railroad construction moved further westward, so Judge Roy Bean moved his courtroom and saloon 70 miles to Strawbridge. A competitor who was already established in the area laced Bean’s whiskey stores with kerosene. Remember earlier Bean had been accused of selling milk that contained minnows. The current problem was far more serious; no one wanted whiskey that tasted of kerosene. So Bean counted his losses, some 55 barrels of whiskey, and moved further west. He settled at Eagle’s Nest, 20 miles west of the Pecos River. The name of the settlement was soon changed to Langtry.

The original owner of the land, who ran a saloon, had sold 640 acres to the railroad on the condition that no part of the land could be sold or leased to Bean.

Before I tell you the rest of the story, allow me to pose a question to you. If Munday was a railroad town and Bean had wanted to open his business in Munday, what would be the response? Think about it a bit. The Board didn’t go looking for Bean, he came to them. He didn’t ask for “deals,” like tax rebates; all he wanted was a place to establish his business and court room. Must I remind you that the Court was official State business?

I realize it is difficult to picture Munday facing such a decision; to allow the sale of booze. Remember Goree to our east? Okay, let’s move on. What will those who are in control of these matters say to Judge Roy Bean? Will the one holding the crystal ball declare, “It won’t work in Munday?” Will the righteous one say, “We don’t need your kind in Munday!” What will they say?

This reminds me of a story that went around after the Knox City tornado. Someone who lives on a farm out of Munday said he had debris from the tornado in his field. Someone else declared, “We don’t have to worry about a tornado hitting Munday, the Board wouldn’t allow it to come here.”

Okay, I’ll move on. What did Bean do? The judge had friends, you know, friends of the bar. An Irishman, named O’Rourke, stepped in with a simple solution. He told Bean to use the railroad right-of-way, which was not covered by the contract.

For the next 20 years Bean squatted on land he had no legal right to claim. Bean sent for his children to live with him at the saloon, with the youngest son, Sam, forced to sleep on the pool table.

Let me leave you with this thought: Where’s there’s a will, there will be a way, whether it is legal or not. The alcohol question will come again to Munday, probably soon. Munday is not the same town as when the question was last defeated. Most of us have not dealt with the obvious in front of us. We don’t want to see what is happening on our streets, in our schools and in our homes. When the opposing will is weak and does nothing, what happens?

I won’t convict Judge Roy Bean for his actions. After all, he was the Justice of the Peace in Langtry. What would I have done in his situation? I dare not say. Someone in my position just better not say everything he thinks.