Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-07-21
STRANGER THAN FICTION.
A Scion of Royalty Turns Up on a Ranch
in Southern Colorado,
Denuer 7lri1uns

ilhedI relationship with Brian BOru, the
last King of Ireland, lives in Costello
county. he is one of the earliest settlers
VINO came to Colorado during the gold ex
citement of 1859. He was in the citv yes
terday stopping at the st. James, where a
IrtOdne reporter met him. A subdued
looking man, dressed in a blue shirt. COM
mon pantaloons and wearing a sombrero.
he gave no indications of more than ordi-
nary ranchman, at least this was the i'm
preston from his outward appearances.
A C0LORADoAN'S ROYAL LINEAGE.
In conversation, however, all this
changed, and for the moment his dress.
even to the wide expansive sOmbrero. was
Iost ana forgotten i'll the charm which a
superior mind will exert. In reply to a
question as to his royal lineage. he said
that Whlle he took no opportunity to i'm
press a stranger, he never for a moment
denied the fact or eYaded an inquiry in
reference to his family history. 1t was
too priceless heritage for him to do that.
The head OF my family" he said, sis
Brian Boru, one of five petty rulers, who,
IN their time, sOwed Ireland with dissen-
sion and war, and made carnage the ayo-
cation of its people. The kingdoms were
Munster, Meath, Ulster, Leinster and
Connaught. In 1000 Brian BOru, having
successfully driven the Danes from his
own province of Munster, seized the ma.
honal authority, and was crowned at Tara
as hlng OF Ireland. AT the head of the ma
tional forces he succeeded before his
death in Kidding the whole country
OF the Danish authority. During
the wise reign that followed his coronation
ireland prospered as she never had before.
Great civil reforms were effected, rights
OF property became assured, and, in a
word, the once unhappy island began to
step rapidly forward as the patron of art
and culture, and famous for its institu-
ton OF learning. In the last battle with
the Danes at ClOntarf, 1918, Brian was
killed in his tent by some flying enemy.
HIS death marked the decline of Irish
monarchy.
History tells how during the centuries
that followed the country suffered almost
ceaseless disorder until lS4S, when the de-
scendants of the old sovereign reappeared
conspicuously as members of the Young
Ireland party, which had grown under
the auspices of O'Connell. The English
government crushed the organization,
and among those captured were the |
Brians, of Munster, moderniZed by the |
prefix and given name. William Smith |
OBrian, my brother, was sentenced to be |
hanged. 1 and another brother escaped |
to this country.
O'BRIAN'S STRUGGLE WITH FATE.
'When | came to America" said |
OBrlan, 81 was well nigh penniless. | |
could have found friends willing and anX-
ious to help me, but preferred to remain
unknown, as the government had placed
price on my head. l was quite Young
man then, and | went to boating ON the |
Hudson. During the eleven years that
preceded my appearance in these noun
tains my fortunes varied. One week / |
appeared on the streets of Chicago as a
drayman. 1t was about this time that |
the news of the discovery of gold in the |
Rockies was agitating the country. |
Hastily gathering together what little l |
possessed, which amounted to about 5000, |
L started westward in company with two |
others as adventurous as myself You |
know what the plains were then and how |
frequent the outrages perpetrated by the |
blOOdthlrsty saVages. We passed through |
those perils unharmed.
''After reaching Santa Fe we passed |
without delay into the Ute country. By |
the assistance of these friendly Indians |
we reached Gilpin county by this round |
about way in safety. Being fortunate | |
turned to my present home, then a wild, |
INDICATED tract. L had made friends with |
the Indians, and concluded to locate here |
and stay, for | knew that a great future
was before the country. l located my
rancho and waited. Stock raising was
then unknown in this region. AS started |
early the result you can easily imagine |
1 prospered, .paraphrasing the scrip
tural passage-'my cattle now cover a |
thousand hills OF these ranches, loca-
ted as they are in the most fertile parts of |
southern Colorado, the tract of land | |
consider my home is in all respects the |
most desirable. Here l live in baronial /
style, and it is here 1 expect to spend the
rest of my days."
THE HOME OF A CATTLE KING.
His place is beautifully situated: an
exile might here spend his days of expa-
triatiOn without one yearnin9 thought.
within sight towers the Sierra Blanca,
almost 10000 feet above the sea, while the
in the distance fall in foot hills
and then sweep off in gently undulating
rich in misquit, buffalo and
gramma grasses.
In grove near by is his home. 1t is
such building as might be found any
where in the Southern States, only a little
rougher perhaps. Like the planter, he
lives upon the ground floor, but unlike the
exceptional planter, his surroundings are
those Of luxury and refinement. His IL
brary is the library of litterateur. Sta
tuary fill the inches, and cabinets and
furniture smooth out the angles in the
walls. On every hand are paintings and
engraVings, and the bric-a-brac usually
found in the home of a literary re-
cluse are scattered about in system
attic disorder. On the desk before him
might be seen the works of DisraeIi or
Alexander II. Stephens, his favorites. The
poets fill the shelves, while near at hand.
in case by themselves, are the scientific
authors. His chronological and specimen
cabinets are also within easy reach, filled
with cOnceits, such as stuccOes and mo-
aia hn A
lost continent, bits of cloth from the loom
If the TOltecs, specimens of Aztec handi-
WOrk, pottery from the kilns of the Pue-
bios, sea shell and coral from the top of
he Rockies, and a thousand and one
other relics OF the remote and mighty
past.
A "REMINISCENCES OF THE DEAD COM
MONER.
O'Brian spoke reverently of Alexander
Il. Stephens. During the war he called
upon him at his home in Georgia, and was
here royalty entertained. 81 shall never
Orget that Visit,v said 0Brian to the re-
porter. ''He and Bob Toombs were
,loseted together. Having only letters of
intended to present these
md take my departure. While sitting
here in his library, he and /, for Toombs
lad gone, / studied intently the
ace before me. 1t was a face |
lad seen somewhere, possibly in the !
galleries of Europe. There were no
weak lines. Every lineament was a re-
lex of intellectual strength. The eyes
hat twinkled brilliantly from beneath his
,ig, broad, forehead were filled with
rood nature which even his growing in
irmities could not darken. Were it not
hat L had grown to know him intimately
might have marveled at the vitality that
so long so great an intellect.
As it was, however, his infirmities to me |
we're nothing more than the gradual dis
solution of theiphysical being, upon which
he brain was feeding.
Finishing my letters, he gave me a
econd welcome as cordial as the first. and
rom that moment the most cOurtly hospi-
ality was at my disposal"
'Do l expect to return to Europe? No:
am an American now to the core. Re-
'ublicanism is ingrained into my nature.
ly people have returned to their homes
nd are living again in their ancestral
alls. have no desire to 90 back. The
most that | can expect and hope for is to
e taken to Munster and be buried. I am
little like the Chinaman in this respect.
don't think my bones would rest outside
hesold family vault.0