OK. West Texas. Telegraph wires ? How old? Found them on ranch today

_. - - - / .. -.. . .-

That’s funny Jeff!

Back in the early 1960's, there was a very rural county about 100 miles north of where I currently live that had telephone lines strung like that on cedar posts and various other natural trees into the small town. They still had the old crank phones. I was in college then and went up there to hunt deer. It seemed to work fine, but I would love to have one of the old phones.

Solid copper wire on most of them. Thick as all get out too.

When I was a kid I packed out of the mountains about 80 pounds of that old wire that had been strung to old fire look-outs.
I took it to the scrap dealer, he swung a magnet by it. The magnet stuck to it like flies on dung. I was surprised to learn it was copper plated steel; worthless.
It did make good beaver drowner wire though.

There was a lot of that along the railroad tracks, back when I was about 18-20 years old. Fooled a lot of people, as it slowly disappeared!

Still a little of it along one section of tracks here

I think you were saying
. - - - - / - - - .. /- - - - ./ - - - - - Or later

Sure glad I learned that code a long time ago, my old fart brain could never do it today.

No idea.

The first telegraph line was installed in Texas in 1856