"This morning the buyer sent a man with a bulldozer out to clear the
creosote bushes off the property. I left a message with the escrow
company (it was pretty early) and called my lender, who told me the
loan was NOT paid off and they had no information about any impending
payoff. "

Instead of calling your lender, why don't you get your ass over to the
escrow company and ask to see the closing documents, copies of the
checks, etc.? The escrow company has to know what did or didn't
close. And this just shows how these marvelous western style
closings, with no lawyers, can wind up with people getting screwed.