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What simple invention ended the Wild West?
In the mid-1800's in America, the West was untamed.
But the same invention that would devastate the battlefields of World War One,
and imprison people in camps in the 20th century would eventually change that.
Its infamous nicknames were: "The Thorny Fence", or "The Devil's Rope".
This was barbed wire.
The first practical barbed wire came from Michael Kelley, from New York, in 1868.
Others tried to patent their versions as well, but the most definitive design was patented on November 24th, 1874,
by Joseph Glidden, who was a farmer.
His version was sturdier than the others. It consisted of one wire holding sharp metal barbs along its length.
A second, barbless wire was twisted around this first wire, thus doubling its strength, and stopping it from sliding around.
In the same year that it was patented, 32 miles or 51 kilometers of wire was produced.
This solved the problem for farmers in the Wild West, as it was difficult to settle the land, which the Homestead Act of 1862 had enabled.
Before barbed wire, the West was better suited to cowboys or cattlemen who followed the law of the open range,
which meant they could graze freely where they liked.
Without protections via fences, their cattle would trample and eat farmer's crops with ease. So establishing a farm was impossible.
Barbed wire solved this problem for farmers.
Before barbed wire, wooden fences were used. However, this proved expensive and difficult to build because lumber was in short supply.
Building walls out of rocks was also difficult as stone was scarce as well
Even thorn bush hedges for the off cattle were used but they grew too slowly
all of these solutions did not hold up well against extreme weather a
Pre barbed wire fence was also ineffective because there was nothing to keep cattle at a distance
So when they pressed against it it just broke
John, w bet a million gates promoted the barbed wire in texas describing it as lighter than air
stronger than whiskey
Cheaper than dust. It is said that he made bets to see if a Texas Longhorn to trample past the barbed wire
Initially, it seemed like a fragile fence to the spectators
but the Longhorns couldn't break past it which convinced people to buy this new revolutionary product the demand
Skyrocketed the use of barbed wire spread fast and because it dramatically changed the West caused a lot of conflicts
The cattle that got too close to the barbed wire were wounded and often died
Access to grazing areas and water was now very difficult and barbed wire fences were even placed on public land
When barbed wire was put up by larger scale cattlemen smaller scale cattlemen cut it to get access to grazing land in water
Armed gangs were often employed to cut the wire at night and left warnings against rebuilding
Sometimes this ended up in violent shootouts
Things got so bad that fence cutting was soon made a felony
Native Americans called it the devil's rope as the barbed wire enabled farmers to finally stake out their property
Which had actually been Native American territory
With barbed wire cattle could be confined to designated areas while keeping other Cattlemen's animals away
So Cowboys were no longer needed to handle and control cattle
The open range was now closed
Barbed wire was an invention that changed the Wild West and you can change the internet with Wix
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