Jack Skiles started with a determination to learn the truth behind the legend of Judge Roy Bean. Armed with a second-hand tape recorder in the 1960s, he interviewed Texas Rangers, ranchers, treasure hunters, and any Langtry old-timer with a good memory and a story to tell about the Judge. Forty years later, Skiles weaves that oral history and a lifetime of solid historical research into a compelling panorama of this harsh, forbidding land west of the Pecos.

Judge Roy Bean Country sets right some of the most enduring myths about the Judge and Langtry. But here along the Rio Grande River in the rugged Chihuahuan Desert there are many more tales to tell of heroes, villains, adventure, humor, and pure misery from the romantic Old West. Following Langtry native son Jack Skiles into the land west of the Pecos, prepare to meet one old reprobate by the name of Judge Roy Bean - and history-telling at its very best.