DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna let it breathe a little. Back in 1896, Judge Roy Bean made national headlines — and if you know anything about Roy Bean, you know that man did not make headlines by accident. The story starts with a prizefight.
Robert James Fitzsimmons was set to go toe-to-toe with James J. Corbett, the heavyweight champion of the world, and it was going to happen right here in Texas. There was just one problem.
The Legislature had gone and outlawed boxing in Texas. Every promoter scrambling for a new location, the whole thing looking like it might fall apart entirely. Then Corbett retired — handed the title, just like that, to an Irishman named Peter Maher.
And Maher agreed to fight Fitzsimmons. Now the match was back on. The question was where.
That's where Roy Bean steps in, and here is where it gets good. Bean arranged for the spectators, the press, and even the Texas Rangers to load up on a train out of El Paso and ride all the way down to Langtry — right through this stretch of country you're passing through now. When they got there, Bean didn't hold the fight in Langtry.
He held it on a sandbar on Mexico's side of the Rio Grande. The Texas lawmen had no authority on the other side of that river. And Mexico?
Mexico had no law enforcement on hand. Nobody could stop a thing. Fitzsimmons knocked Peter Maher out in ninety-five seconds.
Ninety-five seconds — and the title changed hands. Roy Bean had outfoxed a whole Legislature, a Ranger escort, and two sovereign nations, all before lunchtime.
What the marker says
In 1896, Judge Roy Bean made national headlines with a unique boxing match held at this site. Robert James Fitzsimmons was to fight James J. Corbett, the heavyweight champion, but the Legislature had outlawed boxing in Texas. While promoters sought a new location for the match, Corbett retired, handing the title to Irishman Peter Maher, who soon agreed to fight Fitzsimmons. Bean arranged for spectators, the press and Texas Rangers to travel by train from El Paso to Langtry, where he held the fight on a sandbar on Mexico's side of the Rio Grande; Texas lawmen had no authority there and Mexico had no law enforcement on hand. Fitzsimmons knocked Maher out in 95 seconds, winning the title. (2006)