In the conversation that followed, Jim told me he first learned of the
phone when he started roughnecking (working on a rotary drilling rig
drilling for oil) in 1958. He had no idea how long the phone had been
there prior to that time, but reported the phone was well-known in the
area, and, as I had heard from my brother-in-law, was used as a reference
point from which to give directions out in that area. Jim also
indicated those who used the phone years ago got an operator who placed
calls for them.
He went on to provide other history about the ranch on
which it's located, and said the land had belonged to the
Davis-Nolan-Merrill Grain Company, but was now called the Z Bar Ranch.
Curiosity got the best of him after a while and he asked why I wanted
to go to the phone, and how I found out about it. When I gave him my
brother-in-law's name, he stated, "I know him best in the world," an
expression he repeated a couple of times, and one I'd never heard
before.
He provided precise directions to the phone as he leaned back
on his stool, and said I should have been with him that morning since he
had driven right by it. When he said that, I figured he was a pumper
who checked oil wells in the area, a guess that was confirmed by my
brother-in-law when I talked with him later.
Anyway, he said I had to
leave Sun City, head south on a winding road down to Highway 160, turn
east one mile, head south again for 14 miles on another winding road,
turn left through the gate at the rural fire station where the sign said
Z Bar Ranch, cross two pond dams (one big and one small), and, where the
road turned back to the north, there is where I'd find the phone!!
Before I walked out, Jim gave me his phone number, just in case I got
lost out there.