242 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 28, 1903. 
CHARLES E. WHITEHEAD. 
Mr. Charles E. Whiteheab, whose death took place 
on the 21 St of this month, was one of the most devoted 
of sportsmen. Not only was he a good fly-fisher — expert 
in casting the fly for trout and salmon — and an excellent 
shot on birds and large game, but he was most devoted 
to the protection of game. No one has done more or 
mere intelligently for this cause than he. During the 
most active days of the New York Association for the 
Protection of Game he was its attorney and counsel. 
During all those years before the State assumed the 
rcsponsibilily and left the work to a public board and to 
paid official protectors, during the dark hours when every- 
one's hand was against us, when we had to educate the 
ladies and gentlemen in society as well as the dealers in 
gnme, when we had to teach our best people that to serve 
game out of season was not only wrong in itself and un- 
worthy of gentlemen, but utterly destructive of its exist- 
ence, he was untiring. He brought the great suits, some 
of ihcm going to the Supreme Court at Washington, 
which determined the power of the Legislature and estab- 
lished the modern method of protection. He employed 
detectives, he arranged the marshalling of proof so that 
it was as difficult to evade it by falsehood as by cunning. 
And yet he was always liberal and never vindictive. A 
poor ignorant market dealer unacquainted with the lav/ 
was never oppressed ; all he had to do was to promise not 
to ofi^end again and he went free. Even the wealthy 
h.ardened transgressors he thought it better policy to per- 
suade and encourage than to drive too hard. I have no 
time to go into details and must leave that task for others, 
but I wish to record my tribute of admiration and respect 
for my old and valued friend, my honored associate, my 
consistent helper in the good work of game protection, 
and my delightful companion in many a fishing bout — that 
noble specimen of bodily and mental manhood, Charles 
E. Whitehead. He was physically strong, active and hand- 
some; he stood over six feet high, vigorous as a young 
pine tree, fearless in the right and untiring in its service. 
The cause and the country have lost a A^aluable citizen 
when he was called away. 
Robert B. Roosevelt. 
— • — 
*'The Law West of the Pecos/' 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Mr. Hough's reference not long since to Ben Thomp- 
son and King Fisher, reminds me of my promise some 
time ago to try and set down a few of the tales connected 
with Judge Roy Bean, of Langtry, Texas, and his admin- 
istration of justice in that distant and sparsely settled ter- 
ritory. For the benefit of those who did not see the con- 
tribution in which this promise was made, or, having seen 
it, have forgotten the circumstances, I will explain that, 
away out beyond the Pecos River, where the Southern 
Pacific Railway touches the Rio Grande, there is a sta- 
tion called Langtry. Before the railroad was built this 
place was called Eagle's Nest, which was doubtless ap- 
propriate ienough, as the sandy bluffs of the river in this 
vicinity are high and inaccessible, and afford numerous 
convenient shelves or benches where the eagles could 
make their nests. In fact, when I was stationed there, 
although the eagles themselves were gone, one could still 
see what was said to be the remains of their eyries on 
these high shelves. The Southern Pacific came through 
there, I infer, at about the time of the "Jersey Lily's" 
greatest fame, and for some inexplicable reason this for- 
lorn, miserable little railroad town, consisting of not more 
than a dozen structures, and located in the most ban-en 
portion of Texas, was given her name. . 
The population of this little place, though small, con- 
tained, however, more interesting, or, to be accurate, more 
curious and eccentric characters than many places of per- 
haps a thousand times its numbers ; in fact, evei-y resi- 
dent had something worth relating connected with his 
history. I will confine my reminiscences in this article to 
its principal inhabitant, Roy Bean. It is probable that 
Roy is known to some of the readers who may chance 
to glance over these lines. I feel sure that our always 
entertaining writer, Cabia Blanco, must have becoine 
acquainted with him during his Texas service, and can 
perhaps vouch for the truth of some of the many tales - 
extant regarding Roy, either in his honor or at his ex- . 
pense, as the case may be. . 
At the time of which I write Roy was pretty well 
along in years, probably sixty or more. He told me that 
he had been a wagonmaster in the Mexican War, and 
related many incidents of the various expeditions he had 
made. These were believed by but few; probably they 
were wholly fictitious. There is no question, however, 
but that he had been on the Mexican frontier for a long 
time, even if he didn't date back quite to the days of 
Kearney and Domphan. He kept a kind of store and 
drinking saloon, the only one in existence for miles, in 
any direction, and held the position of justice of the 
peace, and consequently was called "Judge" by his ac- ^ 
quaintances. For a long time the saying went, "There's 
no law but Judge Bean west of the Pecos;" and it was 
nearly true, the error being in the exception._ The follow- 
ing anecdotes illustrate his character and his administra- 
tion of justice. Some of them have been published in 
many papers, usually so embellished aild touched up by 
the correspondent's fancy as to bear but little relation to 
actual occurrences. I cannot vouch for the truth of what 
T write; but they were all either told me by the Judge 
himself or by some of his neighbors, who claimed to be 
present at the time of the occurrence; I give th§m fts I 
jl^i^rd them, to the" best of my recolj^ctjon. 
Toward the completion of the Southern Pacific Rail- 
way, the eastern and western ends approached each other 
somewhere in the vicinity of Roy's saloon and Hall of 
Justice. The gangs of laborers on the eastern end were 
mostly Irishmen; those on the western branch mainly 
Chinese. As many will still recall, the latter were very 
unpopular at that time, and when these discordant ele- 
ments had gotten quite near each other, I have no doubt 
the simple minded Celestial had taken it from the more 
boisterous eastern gangs. Finally matters were carried to 
such extremes that in some fray or other a Chinaman was 
killed by one of the opposing party. Out and out murder 
seems to have reached the limit of even Pecos County 
forebearance, and so, in course of time, the offender was 
haled before Judge Bean, charged with the murder of 
this Chinaman. The Judge established his court and 
tried the man with such decorum as circumstances would 
admit. The prisoner in due time was found guilty, and 
it then devolved upon the Judge to take some action in 
the case. Being only a justice of the peace, of course he 
had no jurisdiction in such cases, but, claiming to be the 
only law west of the Pecos, he had assumed the right to 
try the case, and as the man was found guilty, he had 
now to dispose of it. He accordingly had the prisoner 
stand up, and made a brief review of the case, concluding 
something as follows : "You have been found guilty of 
killing this Chinaman and merit the punishment of death. 
In order, however, to proceed strictly within the law. 1 
have carefully examined the statutes and find that there 
is no penalty denounced therein for killing a Chinaman ; 
in fact, the word 'Chinaman' doesn't appear in the 
statutes. The court consequently decides that killing a 
Chinaman is not an offense against the State of Texas, 
and dismisses the case." 
Of course this must appear to the reader like utter bur- 
lesque, but Roy went on to explain to me why he ren- 
dered such an unexpected decision. He said : "Had I 
sentenced this man to death, or even sent him to the 
neighboring county for trial by a court having jurisdic- 
tion in such cases, it would have caused such an uprising 
among the lawless men in the eastern gang as would have 
resulted in the death of half the Chinese camp. By thus 
letting the offender off on such a surprising technicality, 
I avoided this probable massacre." Of course there was 
some ground for this view, but what actuated Roy in this 
now famous decision was doubtless the safety of his own 
skull rather than that of the Chinese camp. 
Some years later there was stationed at Langtry an offi- 
cer who not unfrequently departed from the conventional 
idea of conduct becoming an officer and a gentleman. He 
has long since left the army, but I will withhold his name, 
as he has relatives in high places who might fail to see 
the humor in these anecdotes were names given in full. 
This lieutenant and a railroad employe having fallen 
out over some trifle, they measured off thirty paces of 
ground and took shots at each other with the six-shooters 
of that day, and the lieutenant was hit and painfully 
wounded in one hand. Roy, having heard about it, im- 
mediately had them both brought before him for justice, 
and having heard the case through, fined the lieutenant 
two dozen of beer. The beer was promptly purchased at 
Roy's bar, and in it, with the help of the usual coterie of 
idler.s, I believe all hard feelings engendered in the quar- 
rel were either drowned or dissolved. 
Ro}''s commercial methods might properly be said to 
keep pace with his legal decisions. He once assured me 
with some glee and a rather pardonable pride at his own 
originality, that when anyone paid him anything on ac- 
count he debited them with the item just as though they 
had received that amount from him. He said they were 
liable' to be drinking at the time and to remember but 
little about it afterward; if they questioned the charge at 
a subsequent settlement, he always removed it, but if they 
paid it he was just so much ahead. I told him in reply 
that though I had appeared to acquiesce in times past in 
some pretty doubtful tales, I should have to have some 
e\ idence to pass this one. He accordingly brought out 
an illegible account book and showed me items which 
he said corroborated his story. I have never been abl"" 
to make up my mind whether he was telling the truth 
or trying to make game of me; his idea was certainly 
original, and I doubt very much if he would have been 
deterred from its execution by any qualms of conscience. 
I come now to the anecdote called up by Mr. Hough's 
article. This one was not told me by Roy himself, but 
by his neighbors. One morning when the train from the 
east stopped for breakfast at the railway eating house, a 
fine looking, well dressed gentleman stepped out of the 
sleeper and walked into Roy's store. By his neat and 
fashionable attire Roy hastily took him to be some "ten- 
derfoot", from the East, and observing that he wore two 
large revolvers strapped about his waist, determined to 
collect a fine from him. He accordingly blusteringly ac- 
costed the stranger, asking him how he dared to go about 
wearing pistols in violation of the law of the State. The 
stranger replied in a quiet and undisturbed manner that he 
wasn't aware that he was violating the law of the State. 
The Judge told him quite brusquely that he was violating 
it, and that he was going to bring him immediately to 
trial for so doing. The stranger, still calm and polite, 
asked if there was a magistrate before whom the trial 
could be had. Roy told him quite forcibly that he was 
already before such a magistrate. The stranger there- 
upon asked him if the court was ready to proceed with 
the trial. Roy was about to reply in the affirmative, 
v.d:en, like a flash, the stranger drew both revolvers and 
fired them apparently at Roy's judicial head, the balls 
barely .missing either ear and causing sad havoc among 
the bottles and glasses on the shelves behind him. Roy 
dropped behind the counter in a jiffy, and the loafers and 
frontier idlers sitting around on boxes and barrels en- 
joying the scene, hastily took refuge behind the most 
convenient screen; and almost in a twinkling everyone 
but the stranger was out of sight, and not a sound could 
be heard; all realized that they "were up against the real 
thing." As Uncle Remus says, "'Twas jes like blowin' 
out a cannle." The stranger looked calmly around and 
said: "The court seems to have taken a recess; gentle- 
men of the jury, come out from your hiding places and 
help yourselves to drinks." It is probable that all taste 
for liquor was temporarily destroyed in his panic-stricken 
hearers, but none dared refuse, and each one helped him- 
self to a drink of Roy's liquor, while Roy himself kept 
ignominiously out of sight behind his bar. After this 
Cereitiony was (jonglu^ed, the stranger lai4 hk card ^n4 a, 
dollar bill on the bar, and stepped aboard the sleeper just 
as the train pulled out for the West. As soon as Roy 
dared, he crawled out from his retreat and on the card 
read the following legend : 
King Fisher, 
Deputy Sheriff. 
I do not now recall the number of men Fisher was 
alleged to have killed, but his very name was enough to 
make the average Texan's blood run cold, and I fancy- 
Roy passed some anxious hours lest he might receive a; 
call from Fisher on his return from the West. He was 
spared that annoyance, but for a long time 'twas not con- 
sidered good taste to ask the Judge if he had collected 
that fine yet from King Fisher for wearing pistols. 
Well,_ time flies. Nearly twenty years have slipped 
away since my sojourn at Langtry. I doubt not justice 
is now as accurately administered in Pecos county as in 
any count}'. King Fisher has long since gone. Doubtless 
by this time Roy, too, has gone. Maybe old Julius and 
his hounds are gone ; and possibly even the mountain 
lions they used to hunt and the deer and beaver once so 
numerous, there. Truly the poet says: 
"Life's but a walking shadow: A poor player, 
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, 
And then is heard no more." 
William F. Flynn. 
Jefferson Barracks, Mo, 
On the very day Capt. Flynn's sketch was received in 
the Forest and Stream office, the following press dis- 
patch vyas published in the New York Evening Post: 
"The Law "West of »he Feces" Dead. 
El Paso, Texas, March 17.— Roy Bean, known as "The 
Law West of the Pecos," is dead at his home in Lang- 
try, Texas. "Squire" Bean was one of the most noted 
characters in the United States, and for years had been 
the subject of innumerable anecdotes and newspaper 
sketches. 
A Maice Woods Walk m Sixty-One 
BY MANLY HARDY. 
In Three Parts— Part II. 
As we could not wait for Philbrook and Billings to 
come to us, we started early the next morning to try 
and find them. All snowshoe tracks were nearly ob- 
literated, and we had a hard time findings spotted line 
which led to their next camp. After traveling several 
miles we came to a- small pond surrounded by cedars. 
It was the lower one of the upper Allegash ponds. 
Crossing this in a short time we came to a second. 
As we were going down a long swell of open hard- 
wood land, while still a long distance off, we saw a man 
approaching us. It proved to be T. W. Billings, of 
Brownville, better known as Waldo Billings, the guide 
wlioni your contributor, Mr. C. H. Ames, has written 
of. He said that his partner Philbrook and he had 
separated a week before to be gone two weeks, that 
Philbrook was somewhere on the headwaters of the 
Upper St. John, and that if we would return with 
him to the home camp he would go with us to find 
Philbrook. 
Billings was carrying the old three-barreled two- 
shooter which Hiram L. Leonard, the noted fly- 
rod maker, had made in 1857. As there probably 
was never another like it, I will desciibe it. It was a 
three-barreled gun, which revolved so that but one 
hammer was needed. Two barrels were rifled to carry 
a half ounce round ball; the other was of the same 
caliber, but made smooth to fire shot. Each barrel 
was two-shootered, as it was called, which also was an 
invention of Mr. Leonard's — that is, each barrel had a 
second tube far enough beyond the first to admit of a 
full charge below it. When the gun was loaded, two 
charges were loaded, one on top of the other. In 
firing the first the hammer came down upon a piece 
of metal which fired the first charge; then by touching 
a spring, this flew up out of the way and the second 
charge was fired as if from an ordinary gun. 
Proceeding in company with Billings, we crossed 
lengthwise of the lower of the two upper Allegash 
ponds, and going through a short thoroughfare came 
to the upper one where his camp was situated, about 
half way up the pond on the north side. This pond, 
by the way, is only about two miles from Chimquassa- 
bamtook, the highest water in the State, and is itself 
but little lower. 
On approaching the camp, I was surprised to see 
what looked like an immense washing hung out to 
dry. It proved to be twenty-five or thirty shaved 
moose hides all in a row, stretched on poles. 
In stretching moose hides our hunters were accus- 
tomed to hang the hide neck up from a slanting pole 
and shave all the hair off clean with a sharp knife. It 
took an expert from a quarter to half an hour to shave 
a moose hide, and when done, the hide was as clean as 
a man's face after a shave. In stretching a hide two 
poles some ten feet long and about the size of a man's 
arm, each having a fork at the upper end, were driven 
solidl}'^ into the ground about the distance apart that 
a moose hide . would reach. The hide then had slits 
five or six inches long cut all along the edge from the 
neck to the end of the hide. Through these loops a 
pole was run, each end of which was put in one of the 
crotches. When a pole had been run along the lower 
edge of the hide in a corresponding manner, the hunter 
would put his knee upon one end, and drawing it down 
as tightly as possible, lash it to the upright with bark. 
After securing the other end of the pole in like man- 
ner he would cut small separate holes in each end of 
the hide, and passing a piece of bark through, secure 
the ends to the uprights. Then all adhering meat and 
fat was carefully removed. In- warm weather in the 
fall the thick hide on the back of the neck and on the 
hips was slashed crosswise a number of times just deep 
enough to cut the grain in order to facilitate drying. 
When the hides were nearly dry, but before they be- 
catne too stiff', they were taken out of the frames and 
folded, first lengthwise and then crosswise, so as to 
make a snug pack about three feet long by eighteen 
inches vvi4?- The shaved hides of ^ full-grown mgosQ 
