Austin: Driskill Hotel

Austin: Driskill Hotel

  • <p>Large, four storey building with skyscrapers in background</p>
  • <p>Driskill Hotel 1888 (Austin History Center)</p> <p>Large, four storey building with entrances on two sides dated 1888</p>
  • <p>Jesse Driskill’s son Bud (standing, left) with other cattle barons in Dodge City, KS, 1880s. (Kansas State Historical Society)</p> <p>Five men in suits posing for a photograph</p>
  • <p>Driskill Hotel bar.</p> <p>Lounge area with wood paneled walls, tiled ceiling, leather chairs and sofas</p>
  • <p>Lobby at the Driskill. </p> <p>Large room with tall columns and central walkway to to a flight of stairs</p>
  • <p>Lobby at the Driskill today</p> <p>Large room with tall columns and central walkway to to a flight of stairs</p>

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Much of the Texas cattle industry’s lobbying and deal-making took place near the State Capitol in Austin, not far from a spot where herds of Chisholm Trail cattle crossed the Colorado River. Many a politician would belly up to the ornate bar of the landmark Driskill Hotel and be followed by a cattle baron seeking a law or regulation that would benefit him. Established by prominent Texas cattleman Col. Jesse Driskill in 1886, the hotel today has been beautifully restored and stands as a shrine to the wealth made in cattle in 19th-century Texas.

Driskill Hotel