Lamb County Sand Hills
Springlake, Lamb County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A natural landmark, this chain of sand dunes extends for 130 miles and is three to five miles wide. Archeological findings show that the area was inhabited 6,000 years ago. Comanches camped in the sand hills because of wild game, vegetation, protection from the wind, and the availability of water. Spanish explorers and later Anglo-Americans used the old Indian trails that passed along the dunes. Early ranching did little damage to the area. However, in recent years, the sand hills have been destroyed by extensive farming and industrial operations. (1979)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This 130-mile chain of dunes is a natural landmark with deep human history: archaeological evidence shows people lived here some 6,000 years ago. Comanches later camped among the hills, drawn by game, vegetation, shelter from the wind, and water, and the old Indian trails they followed were adopted by Spanish explorers and, later, Anglo-American settlers. Early ranching left the dunes largely intact, though intensive modern farming and industry have since taken a heavy toll.
Why it matters
The sand hills are a living record of the Southern Plains—millennia of Indigenous life and travel routes that shaped how every later people crossed this landscape.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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On the treeless High Plains of West Texas, water meant survival, and this spring long served as an Indian camp and watering place. In 1876 buffalo hunters George and John Causey and Frank Lloyd raised the first sod house here—giving the site its name—in what became the region's first permanent settlement. A cattle camp followed in 1882 before the great Capitol Syndicate, which built the Texas Capitol in exchange for three million acres, absorbed the land.
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