The C.T. and Claire McLaughlin Arbor and Memorial Garden will be dedicated at 11 a.m. Saturday at the National Ranching Heritage Center, commemorating a couple whose lives and generosity reflected the oil industry in Scurry County.

The new facility honors the McLaughlins, who founded the Diamond M Ranch, museum, art collection and foundation, all of which brought international attention to Scurry County and West Texas during their lifetimes.

A reception will follow the dedication in the Main Gallery of the DeWitt-Mallet Museum Building. The National Ranching Heritage Center is located at 3121 Fourth Street in Lubbock. The public is invited.

The arbor and memorial grove were made possible by a grant from the Diamond M Foundation and children of the late C.T. and Claire McLaughlin: Evelyn McLaughlin Davies of Lubbock, Jean McLaughlin Kahle of Fort Worth and J. Mark McLaughlin of San Angelo.

The gift was made to honor their parents and to permanently place the Diamond M brand at the National Ranching Heritage Center.

The arbor was selected by the foundation because of its significance in the history of the Old West.

A brush arbor was a gathering place, where the community and settlers came together from far and wide to socialize, observe holidays and special events in their lives.

“The arbor was the perfect place to pay tribute to a couple who was known for their hospitality and the enjoyment of their friends, said Jim Pfluger, executive director of the National Ranching Heritage Center.

The McLaughlin Arbor features a large, open-air expanse with a solid roof and patterned concrete floor. Lighting is provided by 18 hanging kerosene lanterns that were modified for electricity. Inside the arbor are oak benches, where visitors can relax as they enjoy the historical park area of the museum.

Snyder native, Gary Terrell, president of the Ranching Heritage Association, will serve as master of ceremonies of the dedication and direct the plaque unveiling and ribbon cutting. He also will relate the story of the McLaughlins.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1897, Clarence Thurston McLaughlin grew up near Titusville, where the first commercial oil well in the world was drilled. Both his father and grandfather worked in the oil industry, so it was natural that young C.T. would find an interest there.

Following his graduation from high school, C.T. spent 25 months in World War I. He used his discharge money to buy a train ticket to Texas to try his hand in the oil industry. He arrived in Burkburnett in 1919 and worked as a roughneck, learning the business.

He soon became a partner in a drilling company in Wichita Falls. It was there he met the young Evelyn Claire Littleton, a lovely, educated woman from Knoxville, Tenn. After a six-week courtship, they were married on Aug. 6, 1921.

They honeymooned in Europe and returned to Wichita Falls, where they lived until 1945.

As his business expanded, and C.T. drilled in Big Spring, he kept an office in the fashionable Settles Hotel, while maintaining a tool yard in Coahoma. When business would allow, C.T. spent weekends at home with his family at their residence in Wichita Falls.

In 1935, while C.T. was active in the Big Spring area, he purchased a ranch in adjoining Scurry County, about 12 miles southwest of Snyder. He took possession on Jan. 1, 1936, and made it the Diamond M Ranch. He continued to acquire land until his death, when he owned four ranches in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.

Over the years, a small house on the ranch was enlarged in stages to accommodate large parties that C.T. and Claire loved to host. He became interested in horses and sponsored some of the most well-attended horse shows in Texas.

At the end of World War II, the McLaughlins sold their home in Wichita Falls and moved to the Diamond M Ranch. By then their children were grown.

There had been some oil production in Scurry County since 1923, when the Sharon Ridge Field was opened, but nothing very exciting until mid-1948 when a well was completed from the Canyon Reef formation.

Then on Nov. 9, 1948, Standard Oil Co. of Texas completed the No. 1 Brown about nine miles north of Snyder, and the biggest oil boom to hit Texas in years was on. A second well in this new field was completed on Dec. 21. It flowed 650 barrels on a 24-hour test. It was the No. 2 McLaughlin, about 10 miles southwest of Snyder, and life for C.T. and his family was changed forever.

A year later, it was estimated that drilling crews were bringing in a producing oil well on the Diamond M Ranch on an average of every five days. Not long thereafter, Scurry County was the leading oil-producing county in the state, a position it maintained for several years.

The McLaughlins were well known as entertainers of friends, both local and international. Their parties were renowned. One writer reported that “Probably the thing which made C. T. and Scurry County known from Austin to Washington to London is the guest list at his famous parties. He’ll give a party at the drop of a hat -- especially if the hat is dropped into the political ring. All the Texas Governors from Coke Stevenson on, have been to the Diamond M Ranch, and so many minor state officials that they would have repopulated the town if all had stayed.”

C.T. was indeed interested in politics, particularly in the Democratic Party, where he held various positions. He is quoted as saying “I am interested in politics because I want to help good men in office. There are no bargains in men for public office.”

He was perhaps best-known for his ability to secure prominent national and international speakers for the Snyder Chamber of Commerce banquets. The McLaughlins also achieved wide renown as art collectors. They established the Diamond M Museum in 1964 in Snyder to exhibit their outstanding collections.

The art collection for the Diamond M Museum was assembled by C.T. and Claire through the Diamond M Foundation, which the couple established. The foundation was financed by royalties from the Diamond M Ranch. Grants supported educational and philanthropic undertakings, the arts and museums.

Following a 50-year marriage that allowed her to meet dignitaries and travel the world, Claire McLaughlin died on Nov. 30, 1971. C.T. followed her on July 29, 1975.

Much of the McLaughlins’ art collection had been given to the Museum of Texas Tech University, which houses the Diamond M Gallery.