In 1882, the town of
Vinegaroon, Texas, is run by Judge Roy Bean, who calls himself "the only law west of the Pecos." Conducting trials from his saloon, Bean makes a corrupt living meting out his own eccentric form of justice. Those who annoy him are usually hanged. That includes an unfortunate homesteader who put up barb-wire fencing, which causes a shootout with Bean's cattlemen cronies. Cole Harden is a drifter accused of stealing a horse belonging to Chickenfoot, Bean's main sidekick. Harden's conviction by a jury composed of Bean's men seems certain, and the undertaker waits eagerly for the verdict and hanging. Bean dismisses Harden's contention that he bought the horse legally from another man. Noticing the judge's obsession with the English actress
Lily Langtry, in desperation Harden claims to know her intimately and to have a lock of her hair, which he claims is in
El Paso. Bean sentences him to hang, but suspends the sentence. Just then, the man who sold Harden the horse enters the bar. The two men brawl, and Harden knocks the real thief to the ground. Bean kills the man when the latter tries to shoot Harden in the back. Bean likes Harden, considering him a kindred spirit because Harden is as bold and daring as Bean was in his youth. However, Bean tries to shoot him when Harden lends his support to the homesteaders, a group led by Jane-Ellen Mathews and her father Caliphet. The struggling homesteaders have been at odds with Bean and his cattle-rancher allies for a long time. Harden tries to appeal to the judge's better nature, and he even saves Bean from an attempted lynching. When that fails, and a corn crop is burned and Mr. Mathews killed, Harden sees no choice but to take action. He is deputized by the county sheriff and procures an arrest warrant for Bean. Arresting Bean in Vinegaroon, now renamed Langtry by the judge in honor of the actress, is impossible with all of Bean's men around. When Bean learns that Langtry will be appearing in a nearby town, a long day's ride from Vinegaroon, he has one of his men buy all of the tickets. Bean dons his full Confederate Civil War regalia and rides to see the performance with his men. He enters the theater alone to await the performance, leaving his henchmen outside. Unknown to Bean, Harden has been waiting in the theater to arrest him. In the ensuing gunfight, Harden fatally wounds Bean. Harden carries Bean backstage to meet the woman he has adored for so long. After Bean introduces himself, he dies. Two years later, Harden and Jane-Ellen, now married and having rebuilt the burned farm, watch as new settlers arrive. ==Cast==