Pioneered at this site, in dugout to the west. S.P. Hamblen (1846-1930) and wife Virginia (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 3? 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.
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