DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of the official marker for the S.P. Hamblen Family, out here in Armstrong County. Now settle in, because this one's got wolves in it.
S.P. Hamblen — born 1846, died 1930 — and his wife Virginia Ann — born 1861, died 1950 — pulled up and settled in the Lakeview area, nine miles south of Claude, in 1889. That's the Texas Panhandle, friend.
Dugout country. Prairie wind country. And this family dove straight into it.
The very next year, 1890, Hamblen helped establish Lakeview School. Because that's the kind of man he was — get here, put down roots, make sure the children have a place to learn. He farmed, he raised stock, and he dealt in cedar posts cut out of Palo Duro Canyon, hauling them over the old Indian trail to sell in Amarillo at three cents each.
Three cents. Now don't you let that number fool you — those hauls were made with such great effort, says the marker, that his oldest son W.H. Hamblen longed for good roads just from living through them.
That longing stuck with him, because W.H. later became the designer of Hamblen Drive. While the men were out on those grueling hauls, Virginia Ann was home at the ranch with the children. And home was no gentle place.
She was out there courageously protecting her family from the prevalent rattlesnakes and repulsing vicious lobo wolves that attacked the young cattle. Repulsing. That's the word the marker uses, and I think it earns every letter.
Now by 1901 and 1902, the family was living at this very site — a place called Mesquite Flat. S.P., and the older sons W.H., David, and Claude, put up corrals and a barn, and then they built a rock-walled dugout, twenty-four by thirty-six feet, right here. On March 3rd, 1902, the tenth child of the family — Luther Ray Hamblen — was born inside that Mesquite Flat dugout.
The tenth child. Born in a rock-walled dugout on the Texas plains. After Mesquite Flat, the Hamblens moved on, always seeking the best location for educating their children — and those children, in the tradition of their parents, became respected citizens of the West.
That family didn't just pioneer a piece of land. They pioneered a whole way of standing up to what the land threw at you.
What the marker says
Pioneered at this site, in dugout to the west. S.P. Hamblen (1846-1930) and wife Virginia Ann (1861-1950) settled in Lakeview area (9 mi. S of Claude) in 1889. Hamblen helped establish Lakeview School, 1890. He engaged in farming and stockraising, and also dealt in cedar posts cut in Palo Duro Canyon and sold in Amarillo at 3c each. Hauls over the old Indian trail were made with such great effort that W.H. Hamblen (oldest son, who helped his father) longed for good roads and later was designer of Hamblen Drive. Mrs. Hamblen, at home with her children, tended the ranch, courageously protecting family from the prevalent rattlesnakes, and repulsing vicious lobo wolves that attacked the young cattle. The Hamblens lived at this site, known as Mesquite Flat, in 1901-1902. The father and older sons, W.H., David and Claude, put up corrals and a barn, and then built the rockwalled 24 x 36-foot dugout. The tenth child of the family, Luther Ray Hamblen, was born in the Mesquite Flat dugout on March 3, 1902. Moving from this place, the Hamblens sought the best location for educating their children, who in the tradition of their parents became respected citizens of the West. (1970)