Few inventions that were designed in the 1870s that have not changed since they were patented, and they are still widely used in the 21st century. Barbed wire is an innovation that fits this category, and it is considered one of the most important inventions of the 19th century.
“When Kansas and most of the Midwest was first settled, this was just great, big open prairie, and there was really nothing here, no trees or anything,” said Brad Penka, president of the Kansas Barbed Wire Collector’s Association, which operates the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum, located in La Crosse, Kansas.
Penka said as settlers started to develop homesteads in the High Plains, free ranging animals, including domestic cattle and wild bison created problems for farmers because they would often destroy planted fields the settlers relied on for food and income. Settlers were looking for ways to fence out animals, but most of the fencing options before barbed wire were too costly or ineffective.
“Prior to that, there was mostly smooth wire fencing, which animals could rub against and push the fence down,” Penka said.
The origins of barbed wire
Although there were some previous inventions similar to barbed wire, Joseph Glidden, a farmer from DeKalb, Illinois, is credited as the official inventor of barbed wire, or “devil’s rope,” as it was sometimes called. Glidden patented his improvements on the early versions of wire fencing in 1874, and his simple design was an overnight success.
“That’s the design that became the most popular, and it’s still in use today,” Penka said. “It outlasted and outperformed hundreds of other variations. When you go downtown to buy a roll of barbed wire today, it’s basically the same as what he made.”
Later, three other developers, Jacob Haish, Charles Francis Washburn and Isaac L. Ellwood, would join Glidden to become known as the “Big Four” of barbed wire and they all become extremely financially successful because of its demand.
Penka said John W. Gates, also known as “Bet-a-Million” Gates, who was a salesman for one of the barbed wire companies, set up a demonstration at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. He showed onlookers the effectiveness of barbed wire fencing with livestock and made sales explode for this inexpensive and easy-to-install barrier.
“He put up a barbed wire fence and put some Texas Longhorns in it,” Penka explained. “Some cowboys antagonized them to get them to charge the fence. They charged it, but the fence never broke through, and they didn’t get out. After that, people saw how well it worked, and then it just went crazy right after that.”
Penka said since barbed wire came onto the scene in the late 1800s, it had a substantial industrial impact and became a major industry for several years. By the time Glidden died in 1906, his barbed wire patent had made him one of the richest men in America.
Barbed wire variations
Since Glidden made his patent in 1874, Penka said there have been more than 500 patents obtained on barbed wire designs. Of those patents, there have been many variations created. He said the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum has more than 2,400 different variations of barbed wire in its collection alone. Penka said the hobby of collecting vintage barbed wire began in the 1960s and is still popular today.
“With the variations, it’s basically the same patent design, but with modifications made to it and there are some that were never patented,” he said. “With all these variations, it was kind of a build a better mousetrap idea, where people thought they could make something a little bit different and get a patent, but Glidden’s first design was still the most successful.”
Penka said barbed wire was also at the center of several patent controversies that eventually changed patent laws.
“People believed that if they changed just one or two minor things on their barbed wire design, they could patent their own,” he said. “There were some legal battles that ensued that went all the way to U.S. Supreme Court, and really set a precedent in patent law, which basically said just because you make a minor change to a product does not allow you to patent your own design. That decision is still referenced to frequently in patent law today, so it had a big effect.”
How barbed wire changed the landscape
Although barbed wire was a godsend to the farmers and ranchers that had settled in parts of Kansas and surrounding states, there were critics of this new fencing that led to conflicts known as fence wars, according to Penka.
“A lot of Texas ranchers would have the cattle drives, where they would drive their cattle up through the prairie to Kansas so they could get them onto the Kansas Pacific Railroad,” he said. “Abilene and Ellsworth were big cattle towns. People started putting these fences up, and all of a sudden, they ran into a barrier, and they didn’t like that. In some cases, it got pretty nasty and there were a lot of threats and a lot of fence cutting.”
Over time, everyone adapted to a fenced prairie and slowly the long cattle drives disappeared, and barbed wire controversy was no more. In many ways, barbed wire was the beginning of the end of the era of the American West because it fenced out that way of life and revolutionized the landscape.
“Barbed wire changed the environment significantly, because it was all broken up and sectioned off, basically partitioned,” Penka said. “Everybody had their property defined and it’s still that way today.”
Although barbed wire interrupted the expansive pastures and farm ground of the High Plains, it also brought a semblance of order to property ownership and opened new doors for agricultural development in the High Plains. Without this innovation, the High Plains we know today would look vastly different and untamed.
Lacey Vilhauer can be reached at 620-227-1871 or [email protected].
