THE HANGING TREE
Used by Judge Roy Bean to dispense "Law West of the Pecos," the hanging tree is located at Langtry, Texas. Langtry was named after the famous English Actress Lillie Langtry whom Bean admired but never saw. Bean reached a peak of notoriety on February 21, 1896 when he staged the banned Fitzsimmons - Maher heavyweight title fight on a sand bar in the Rio Grande. By holding it on Mexican territory he outwitted Texas Rangers and Mexican Officers sent to stop the match. Judge Bean died in 1903 in Langtry, Texas, but was buried in Del Rio, Texas.
Provenance: Purchased at a postcard dork trade show, April 2011.
This tree really doesn't look like it was ever strong enough to hold the weight of an adult human--outlaw or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI know, right?
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about this postcard is how the long, blathering description takes only the most cursary notice of the alleged hanging tree, and then goes off on bizarre tangents about English actresses and prize fights. Clearly, here we have a copy writer with a bee in his bonnet.