Phantly Roy Bean Jr. (c. 1825 – March 16, 1903) was an American saloon-keeper and Justice of the Peace in Val Verde County, Texas, who called himself "The Only Law West of the Pecos". According to legend, he held court in his saloon along the Rio Grande on a desolate stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert of southwest Texas. After his death, fictional Western films and books cast him as a hanging judge, yet despite being famous for saying “Hang ‘em first and try ‘em later,” he never actually hung anyone.

Roy Bean was born circa 1825 in Mason County, Kentucky, and was the namesake and youngest of five children (four sons and a daughter) of Phantly Roy Bean Sr. (November 21, 1804 – June 13, 1844) and the former Anna Henderson Gore. The family was extremely poor; at age sixteen Bean left home to ride a flatboat to New Orleans, hoping to find work.

After getting into trouble in New Orleans, Bean fled to San Antonio, Texas, to join his elder brother Sam. Samuel Gore "Sam" Bean (1819–1903), who had earlier migrated to Independence, Missouri, was a teamster and bullwhacker. He hauled freight to Santa Fe and then on to Chihuahua, Mexico. Sam had moved out of San Antonio after fighting in the Mexican–American War.

In 1848 the two brothers opened a trading post in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Soon after, Roy Bean shot and killed a Mexican desperado who had threatened "to kill a gringo". To escape being charged with murder by Mexican authorities, Roy and Sam Bean fled west to Sonora, Mexico. By the spring of 1849, Roy Bean had moved to San Diego, California, to live with his elder brother Joshua Bean. The latter was elected the first mayor of San Diego the following year, after California became part of the Union.

Considered handsome, Bean competed for the attentions of various local women. A Scotsman named John Collins challenged Bean to a pistol-shooting match on horseback. Bean was left to choose the targets and decided that they would shoot at each other. The duel was fought on February 24, 1852, and ended with Collins receiving a wound to his right arm. Both men were arrested and charged with assault with intent to murder.

In the two months that he was in jail, Bean received many gifts of flowers, food, wine and cigars from women in San Diego. Hidden in the final gifts he received there were knives that were encased in tamales. Bean used the knives to dig through the cell wall and escaped on April 17, 1852. He fled to San Gabriel, California, where he became a bartender in his elder brother Joshua's "Headquarters Saloon". After Joshua was murdered in November 1852, Bean inherited the saloon. In 1854 Bean courted a young woman who was subsequently kidnapped and forced to marry a Mexican officer. Bean challenged the groom to a duel and killed him. Six of the dead man's friends put Bean on a horse and tied a noose around his neck, leaving him to hang when the horse moved. When he was hanged, the rope stretched and Bean was able to stay alive. The bride, who had been hiding behind a tree, cut the rope, freeing him and saving his life. This experience left Bean with a permanent rope burn and a stiff neck for the rest of his life.

Shortly thereafter, Bean chose to leave California and migrated to New Mexico to live with Sam, who had been elected the first sheriff of Doña Ana County.

In 1861 Samuel G. and Roy Bean operated a store and saloon on Main Street in Pinos Altos (just north of Silver City) in present-day Grant County, New Mexico. It advertised liquor and "a fine billiard table". Roy's cannon, which had been used to repel an Apache assault on the town, was displayed in front of the store.