Oklahoma: A Story Through Her People

ZINK RANCH
Top: “The Rendezvous” building.
The John Zink Ranch was
first envisioned by John Steele
Zink. After his company’s
foundry burned in 1945, John
used the settlement from his
insurance claim to purchase
“a picturesque parcel of land
in Osage County” and, for the
next sixteen years, gradually
bought much of the land
around it. John was passionate
about the site and began improving it almost
immediately. He added a 110 by 160 foot
building he christened “The Rendezvous,”
which included bunk beds and hunting-lodge
style furnishings. He later added a state-ofthe-art
rifle range, which Precision Shooting
magazine named in 1956 as the “nation’s best
bench rest shooting range.” He built roads
and ponds and even a “replica of a frontier
boomtown for the Boy Scouts.”
Today that original passion and vision
remain in the hearts of the Zink family and
are lived out across the unique landscape of
the Ranch. Following John’s death in 1973,
his son Jack continued to build the Ranch
into “a combination of wildlife preserve,
outdoor park, and ever-changing venue for
activities as diverse as motorcycle races and
bird watching.”
Much of the property is home to permanent
Boy and Girl Scout camps with outstanding
facilities, which are used by tens of thousands
of Boy and Girl Scout members, parents, and
volunteers every year. The family scouting
complex, Cub World, was built to include
The Land Ship, The Native American Nature
Center, Turkey Creek Village, and King Arthur’s
Castle. There is also an Aquatics Sports Center
at nearby Skiatook Lake. Lodges and cabins
for families of scouts offer modern amenities
across the Ranch.
The Red Castle Gun Club, with more than
2,000 members, is also situated on the
Ranch. Many other groups also use the beautiful
hills of Osage County within the Ranch’s
borders for activities as diverse as motorcycle
endurance races, equestrian events, dog
tracking, orienteering, bird watching, and a
wide variety of other events and activities.
O K L A H O M A : A S t o r y T h r o u g h H e r P e o p l e
154