It was such a beautiful day today that I figured I would do something special so I hopped in the truck and went to see "The Bean". And not just any bean, but Hizhonor Judge Roy Bean.
The judge lived such an incredible life that I won't even attempt to describe it here but it was incredible enough to make a movie of it called "the life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" starring no less than Paul Newman. If you've never heard of him you should really Google him up and see what a serious self promoter can do for an otherwise mundane life. One of the things that struck me about the town of Langtry where his saloon is located, is the absolute desolation of the place. Even today it's 50 or 60 miles from the nearest decent sized town which is Del Rio. Back in the late 1800s it must've been like living on the moon. I mean there is nothing around there and no real reason to be there except the railroad decided to put the second transcontinental line in the southern part of the country, and it ran right through what today is Seminole Canyon state Park and what became Langtry Texas. It's all very interesting if you like Western history like I do, but to understand it I think you have to go to these places and see the utter emptiness of some of the land they lived on, and feel the heat, and the cold, they had to deal with without any modern conveniences. Making a life in places like this in the 1800s was a challenge that only the strong, the tough, and the independent could survive. The 1800s West chewed up and spit out those that couldn't deal with isolation, loneliness, life-threatening weather, low bandwidth Internet service, and the smell of horse manure. So it looks like I was born at just the right time. IBCNU theboondork
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