When you hear the term “party line,” most people think of the Communist, Democrat or Republican party line. These are all pretty dull and have their own agenda. The party line that rose above all others was the rural telephone party line. It has almost disappeared but survives in a few locations. I see a rural phone line running alongside Crow Creek Road, but I think the only remaining party on that line is Tom Birkmaier.

As a kid we lived in the country and had only a party line for communications. The phone line from the road to the ranch house was the top strand of wire on the fence with insulators. When cattle rubbed on the fence it would ground out and the connection was bad. When the phone rang, you answered it if it was your ring. Our ring was two longs and three shorts. Grandpa’s was two longs and one short and my uncle’s was two longs and two shorts. We had a total of nine phones on our line and everyone knew all the rings.

To phone someone on another line you had to press a button on the side of the phone box and ring one long with the crank. This would contact Central in town and you would tell her the line and ring you wanted. Long distance was done the same way but it took some time to get connected. I can remember my dad phoning a brother in California and the operator calling back and saying she had a line as far as Boise and she would call back when she had a connection to California.

The frequent lightning storms caused the phone to ding with every lightning strike and a lot of ranchers were too broke or too cheap to pay for telephone poles from the road to the house. They instead chose to put insulators on the fence and use the top wire for their phone line. When lightning hit a phone pole sometimes the jolt would follow the phone line till it found ground. This was often fatal to cattle that were eating through the fence and in contact with the top wire. They would drop where they stood with their heads in the greener pasture.

Some people considered it impolite for others to listen in on their conversations, which was common. Of course this was prior to television and with poor radio reception, this was sometimes the only sedentary recreation available. Occasionally it helped out. I remember hearing the Coreys’ ring, one long and three shorts, and my aunt answering the phone to inform whoever was calling that the Coreys had driven by half an hour ago and were headed toward town. Resa Williams, also listening in, interrupted to say that the Coreys had turned south on the grid road toward Colin Campbell’s place and if the caller would call Central and have her ring line four, one long and four shorts, they could probably talk to the Corey clan at the Campbell ranch.

A lot of very useful information has been gleaned from the party line that was of value to the subscriber. You never know when Resa Williams can point you in the right direction.

My computer knows I like cowboy songs and occasionally suggests song titles I might like. Last week it suggested these titles: “I never went to bed with an ugly woman but I woke up with a few,” “I’ve missed you a lot but my aim is improving,” “She’s looking better with every beer,” and “It’s hard to kiss the lips at night that have chewed my butt all day.”

Open Range columnist Barrie Qualle is a working cowboy in Wallowa County.