Barbed Wire

In the American West, cattle could not be fenced in because there was not enough wood to make fences, and not enough labor to make stone fences.  Cattle were raised on open range, and driven across many states from their home range to the rail heads in Kansas for transport to Eastern markets.

There were many attempts to make a wire fence, but the cattle were strong enough to break most wires.  Attempts were made to put barbs on the wire, without success. 

An improved barbed wire fence was made by 60 year old Joseph F. Glidden of Dekalb Illinois in 1873.  His fence wire was made from two strands of smooth wire, with one wire encrusted with twisted barbs.  The two wires were twisted together to secure the barbs, and the two wires proved sturdy enough to stop cattle from breaking the wires.  This image from the Devils Rope Museum shows some of the hundreds of barbed wire designs that exist.

It is said that three inventions made settling the arid American West possible: the windmill, barbed wire,  and the repeating rifle.   

Glidden's design from his patent looks like the common type of barbed wire used today, more than 125 years later.   

Comments

[Anita Campbell]

Looks positively painful!

[Nipper]

Sadly, I've actually been to the barbed wire museum ("The Kansas Barbed Wire Museum in LaCrosse, Kansas is the only museum in the world devoted solely to the history and legend of what is often referred to as the "Devil’s Rope"") See: http://www.rushcounty.org/BarbedWireMuseum/

[Bob Shaver]

You really need to get a life, Steve. Ever visited the Largest Ball of String museum?

[David Rzyski]

I am a senior at NIU, I am going to use the topic of "barbed wire" in my Hist491 class. The paper and class is my history thesis and I would apreciate any comments, sources, ideas, ect. I was going to cover pre-patent wires, then the patenting of wire by Glidden, and conclude with modern production, use, collection, ect.
Again I thank you in advance and look forward to any information or expertise lended.
davidrzyski@yahoo.com

[Leah Henderson]

I am a Texas History Texas teacher and we are researching the end of the Open Range and barb wire wars. we are at the moment designing our own barbed wire with ads to sell it. we cannot find what barbed wire would have cost back in the 1860s-1890s. Does anyone have any idea about this? we would appreciate help.

[Amy]

I am sorry, but barbed wire is weird, and if you really care about it, then you scare me!