So many stories about the old west, including many of those on this site, talk about the great open ranges of the early west. The history of western ranching has much to do with the availability of millions upon millions of acres of open range land. This of course came to an end when western migration reached the point where land was fenced in.
The history of fencing and by default,
the history of barbed wire, had about the same impact on western civilization as did the railroad. The impact on the rancher however was largely negative. There was more than one range war over fencing. As an example, the infamous
Johnson County War in Wyoming had as much to do with settlers fencing in range land as it had to do with cattle rustling.
In visiting museums and studying the subject, one thing that stands out, and one that perhaps a lot of people don't realize, is that the history of fencing included many different types of barbed wire used. Although there had been experimentation with different types of fencing in the early 1860's, the story of what we know today as barbed wire had it's start in the year 1873. During that year at the county fair in
DeKalb, Illinois, a man named
Henry M. Rose put together an
exhibit regarding a new idea in fencing. Rose's exhibit was a wooden rail with a series of sharp
spikes sticking out from the sides of the rail. The fence rail which Rose patented
earlier that year was designed to be attached to an existing
fence to stick an animal when it came into contact with the rail. The benefit was to keep livestock from breaking through the fence.
A man named
Joseph Glidden saw this exhibit and experimented with improving it. Glidden decided to design a wire that had these points sticking out from the wire itself. essentially, this is what we know today as barbed wire.The barbed wire pictures here show you all the various designs.
Before I go any further, I want to tell you about the
Kansas Barbed Wire Museum located in
LaCrosse Kansas. This museum has some of the most extensive barbed wire exhibits you'll find anywhere in the world. The barbed wire museum is operated by the Kansas Barbed Wire Collectors'
Association, non-profit corporation chartered by the
State of Kansas.This is definitely a venue that anyone interested in barbed wires influence on western American settlement wants to visit. The museum is located at
120 W. 1st Street, LaCrosse KS. LaCrosse is located about 10 miles south of Interstate 70 and about 160 miles northwest of Wichita Kansas.
There were a few others in addition to Joseph Glidden who developed barbed wire, filed patents and started small manufacturing companies. In the future there would be buy outs and some consolidation and a few patent fights. Glidden went through a patent battle in 1874 contesting whether he actually invented the wire in the first place. He won that court fight and went on to establish the Barb Fence Company in DeKalb. The value of this new product was recognized early on. The economics of fencing in the massive open ranges leaned toward the use of barbed wire. It was the most economical way to do it as opposed to any other way. The stone and hedge fencing used in many area of the east would be too costly and would take much too long to erect on the western plains. As a result, barbed wire came on the scene in large amount just when it was needed the most, during the large westward settlement after the Civil War.
On way to understand how the early barbed wire was manufactured is to look how Joseph Glidden produced his first barbed wire. According to information from the
Kansas Barbed Wire Museum, Glidden actually used a coffee mill to make the barbs. Glidden had two pins on
one side of the mill, one centered and the other just enough off center
to allow a wire to fit in between. He turned the crank and the pins twisted the wire and formed loops.The wire was then clipped off about
one inch on each end at an angle to form a sharp point. Barbs were placed
on one of two parallel strands of wire. The two strands of wire were attached
to a hook on the side of an old grinding wheel. As the barbs were positioned,
the wheel was turned twisting the two strands of wire and locking the barbs
in place. The end product was very usable fence wire.
Interestingly enough, a German immigrant,
William Edenborn, developed a process to manufacture barbed wire that was considered more humane. He patented a process that would also make it cheaper to produce. Edenborn would later end up supplying about seventy-five percent of the barbed wire used in the U.S.
When you look at the barbed wire sample photos on this page, you will notice the large number of patents filed for a large variety of designs. This is truly barbed wire art. The manufacture of barbed wire became an art in many ways. Many different designs of the barbs themselves distinguished one from the other. In most instances, the length and design of the barbs themselves determine how much of a deterrent they are. Some can be much more harmful to cattle or anything else that comes in contact with them depending on the design. Barbed wire fences continue to be the standard fencing method for enclosing ranch cattle
in most areas of the United States.
Two articles we have published that you'll find interesting are the
Johnson County War in Wyoming and the famous 3 million plus acre
XIT Ranch of Texas.
For those residing in Texas, there is the
Devil's Rope Museum located in McLean Texas. Here the visitor will see two large barbed wire balls weighing about 400 pounds each sitting near the museum entrance. You can tell from these pictures of barbed wire that there's a lot to see. McLean Texas is located about 75 miles east of Amarillo just off Interstate 40.
(Photos are from author's private collection)
