Michael C. O’Bryan became one of Hot Springs’ leading merchants in the last half of the nineteenth century. A chance occurrence in Rockport resulted in a turning point in O’Bryan’s life, as well as the spa city’s business community.

The pathway known as the Military Road crossed Arkansas in a northeast-southwest direction, giving the road its more popular name, “Southwest Trail.” In Hot Spring County the road passed through Rockport at the Ouachita River. Because of this, Rockport became a well-known landmark in Arkansas. So called because of the distinctive rocks embedded in the Ouachita River, “Rockport” stood at the point of intersection of two major transportation routes—the Military Road and the Ouachita River. Even in the state’s early days, the Military Road carried thousands of people across Arkansas. One of those was M. C. O’Bryan.

Michael C. O’Bryan was born in Ireland in 1835 and came to New Orleans in the United States with his mother in 1848. She died a short time later, and M.C. began to make his  way as a plumber. After saving money for a few years, he moved to Memphis and worked there in the late 1850s. He left Memphis in 1860 and headed for Pike’s Peak to search for gold. Instead of finding gold, O’Bryan ended up in the store business, went broke out West, and returned to St. Louis in 1863. He tried again, beginning his business with only twenty dollars, but economic difficulties during the Civil War made it almost difficult to succeed in any new venture, and O’Bryan’s failed. He decided to return to Memphis and start over yet again. However, even with initial success, he lost everything in a fire.

In the months after the war was over, M. C. O’Bryan moved to Little Rock and went into the “butchering business.” In Arkansas’s capital city he enjoyed some success by shipping animal hides, dried fruits, and the like to Cincinnati. In connection with this endeavor, O’Bryan decided to go to Texas to purchase some cattle, planning to invest $520.

So, in the spring of 1866, O’Bryan began his journey to Texas. However, when he reached Rockport, he became ill. With the renowned healing thermal waters of Hot Springs nearby, he took a detour there with the intent of staying a few weeks to improve his health. Instead, O’Bryan ended up opening a merchandising business with his $520 and became one of the town’s leading merchants. According to one source published in 1881, his sales the first year were about $10,000; by 1880, over $140,000. That same volume also described his real estate holdings, which included “a very handsome family residence, three business houses, and improved and unimproved lots in Hot Springs, and several farms and tracts of land in Saline, Hot Spring, and Montgomery counties.”

A contemporary of O’Bryan’s stated, “Mr. O’Bryan’s characteristic is money making, and he makes more than any of us.”