From Mary Bellis,
Your Guide to Inventors.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Life in the American West was reshaped by a series of patents for a simple tool that helped ranchers tame the land: barbed wire. Nine patents for improvements to wire fencing were granted by the U.S. Patent Office to American inventors, beginning with Michael Kelly in November 1868 and ending with Joseph Glidden in November 1874.

Significance

The new fencing not only simplified the work of the rancher and farmer, but it significantly affected political, social, and economic practices throughout the region. The swift emergence of this highly effective tool as the favored fencing method influenced life in the region as dramatically as the rifle, six-shooter, telegraph, windmill, and locomotive.

Barbed wire was extensively adopted because it proved ideal for western conditions. Vast and undefined prairies and plains yielded to range management, farming, and ultimately, widespread settlement.

Before the invention of barbed wire, the lack of effective fencing limited the range of farming and ranching practices, and with it, the number of people who could settle in an area. Wooden fences were costly and difficult to acquire on the prairie and plains, where few trees grew. Lumber was in such short supply in the region that farmers were forced to build houses of sod. Likewise, rocks for stone walls—commonly found in New England—were scarce on the plains. Shrubs and hedges, early substitutes for wood and rock fencing materials, took too long to grow to become of much use in the rapidly expanding West. Barbed wire was cheaper, easier, and quicker to use than any of these other alternatives.

Grazing Freely

Without fencing, livestock grazed freely, competing for fodder and water. Where working farms existed, most property was unfenced and open to foraging cattle and sheep. Once a year, cattle owners, unhindered by fenced property lines, led their herds on long cattle drives, eventually arriving at slaughter-houses located near urban railheads for shipping convenience.

Thorny Fence

Wire fences used before the invention of the barb consisted of only one strand of wire, which was constantly broken by the weight of cattle pressing against it. Michael Kelly made a significant improvement to wire fencing with an invention that "twisted two wires together to form a cable for barbs - the first of its kind," according to Henry D. and Frances T. McCallum, the authors of The Wire That Fenced the West. Known as the "thorny fence," Kelly's double-strand design made the fence stronger, and the painful barbs taught cattle to keep their distance.

Inventors & Patents

Predictably, other inventors sought to improve upon Kelly's designs; among them was Joseph Glidden, a farmer from De Kalb, IL. In 1873 and 1874, patents were issued for various designs to strengthen Kelly's invention, but the recognized winner in this series of improvements was Glidden's simple wire barb locked onto a double-strand wire. Glidden's invention made barbed wire more effective not only because he described a method for locking the barbs in place, but also because he developed the machinery to mass-produce the wire. His invention also survived court challenges from other inventors. Glidden's patent, prevailing in both litigation and sales, was soon known as "the winner." Today, it remains the most familiar style of barbed wire.

The widespread use of barbed wire changed life on the Great Plains dramatically and permanently. Living patterns of nomadic Native Americans were radically altered, as well. Further squeezed from lands they had always used, they began calling barbed wire "the Devil's rope." Fenced-off land meant that more and more cattle herders were dependent on the dwindling public lands, which rapidly became overgrazed. The harsh winter of 1886, culminating in a big January 1887 blizzard, wreaked further havoc on the cattle market: losses totaled more than $20 million in Wyoming alone. In effect, large-scale, open-range cattle enterprises disappeared.

Use During War

Barbed wire also became a widely used commodity elsewhere, especially during land warfare. In early European history, pointed spears or palisades circumferential surrounded many castles for protection. Barbed wire rapidly replaced these and other devices used to protect people and property from unwanted intrusion. Military usage of barbed wire formally dates to 1888, when British military manuals first encouraged its use.

During the Spanish American War, Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders chose to defend their camps with the help of barbed fencing. In turn-of-the-century South Africa, five-strand fences were linked to blockhouses sheltering British troops from the encroachment of Boer commandos. During World War I, barbed wire was used as a military weapon. It was a formidable barrier along the front, stretching from Switzerland to the English Channel. Even now, barbed wire is widely used to protect and safeguard military installations and to establish territorial boundaries. It has also emerged as a commonly recognized instrument for prisoner confinement; the image of a corpse caught on the wires of a concentration camp fence has become the emblem of war's ravages. Today, barbed wire is often part of the containment wall of prisons all over the world.

Use as Site Protection

Used on construction and storage sites and around warehouses, barbed wire protects supplies and persons and keeps out unwanted intruders. In any event, it has proved both highly useful and highly significant in altering traditional practices during both war and peace.

Glidden's U.S. patent was issued November 24, 1874.

Continue > BW Photo Gallery