Most of the stories about Judge Roy Bean and Lily are likely apochryphal. He never met her, that much we do know, though I believe he harbored longings for "Biblical knowledge."

During my years in the wine business, I once distributed wine for another ardent admirer who took things a step further. His family bought a large Lake County (CA) property, north of Napa County   which Lily had once owned and on which she had raised wine grapes. He restored her house and used it as a guest facility. Orville Magoon, from a wealthy Hawaiian family, created Guenoc Winery and featured Lily's Picture on the labels. He steeped himself in all things Lily and became a mini-historian on her subject. The winery has since sold, but her legacy lives on.

By the way, Judge Bean's brother was an early sheriff of San Diego County in California and much less "colorful."

The New Christy Minstrels did a similar treatment of another actual historic figure with "Hi Jolly." Hadji Ali was a real imported camel driver brought over to the states when the army did its short "Camel Corps" experiment in the west in the late 1800's. The camels spooked hell out of the horses (and people) and it never worked as planned. A fun song, though. They use it as a theme for "Hi Jolly Days" in Quartzite, Arizona annually.