the development and rise of barbed wire

7/27/2019 The Development and Rise of Barbed Wire

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The Development and Rise of Barbed

Wire

Table of Contents

Part One: The Development and Production of Barbed Wire

o

Setting the Stage: Farmer-Pioneers and the Need for Fencingo Necessity Breeds Invention: De Kalb, Illinois, 1873

o The Next Step: Promoting Barbed Wire

o The Struggle for Monopoly: From the "Moonshiners" to UnitedStates Steel

Part Two: The Introduction of Barbed Wire to the Frontier

Biographies of the Inventors

It may be noted that the work cited in this section is McCallum's TheWire that Fenced the West

The Development and Production of Barbed Wire

Setting the Stage: Farmer-Pioneers and the Need for Fencing

Around the middle of the nineteenth century, American settlers, mostlyfarmer-pioneers, were moving west to the frontier of the Plains and the
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Southwest. As they proceeded, they became acutely aware of thechanges in environment, which marked a transition from the woodedlands of the East to the more arid, isolated, and grassy regions of theWest. For, "in the Midwest and Southwest, conditions were fardifferent"(5). Before the farming pioneers lay a land of promise andopportunity, yet, "ahead stretched mile after uninterrupted mile oftablelands, not entirely without trees, not entirely without loose stone,not entirely without water, but seriously affected by the scarcity of allthree"(6). In this new land, the farmer-pioneers found themselveslacking the tools and agricultural technology which could makesuccessful farming possible. For, "change in scenery called for changeand adaptation in provisions, and with the farm-minded pioneer, one ofthe features most radically in need of adaptation to the changing scenewas fencing"(3).

Fencing to the east had consisted of theready and available native materials of theland. In the East and New England, fencinghad been constructed of stone walls,drawing upon the great amounts of stonefound in the native soil. Along the Atlanticseaboard, fencing consisted of wooden railfences, constructed from the inexhaustiblesupply of trees in this area. Likewise, such

wooden fences and sources of materialextended to the South, where earlier, slavelabor, and later, cheap labor, provided forease in construction. Yet on the Plains andin the Southwest, "in an almost treeless land,with a scarcity of loose stones, and removed by navigablewaterways"(9), material for fencing was truly unavailable.

The lack of fencing material for those early farmer-pioneers was truly

problematic, for "farmers were by tradition the fence-makers of theworld"(7). "The historic function of the fence was to serve asdefense"(7), and on the frontier, the farmer-pioneers needed to protecttheir crops and the fruits of their labor from outside destructive forces.For, "no one knew better than [the farmer-pioneer] that he must have

protection--not only from the elements but from man and beast aswell"(9).

Without wood or stone, the farmer-pioneer at first looked forsubstitutes that could serve as fencing to protect his crops. Furrow

fences and earthen ridges were employed to no success. In the late1860's and early 1870's, hedge fencing, the cultivation of native thorn


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bushes such as the bois d' arc to serve as defense, was employed aswell, to greater, but still little success. At the same time, wood andstone fences were tried again, but materials proved too scarce andexpensive, and the construction too laborious to work successfully.Thus the pioneer-farmer found himself halted at the threshold of thefrontier, for without fencing he could not proceed. Yet, in 1873,technology would change his predicament and the frontier forever, withthe invention of barbed wire in De Kalb, Illinois.

Necessity Breeds Invention: De Kalb, Illinois, 1873

It may be seen that De Kalb, Illinois was situated perfectly in place andtime for the invention of barbed wire:

Illinois in the 1870's was situated on the border between city andprairie, between consumer and producer; it looked to the Eastand to the West, to the old and to the new. It was of the frontierand yet not the frontier, a meeting ground for the past and thefuture. Because of its location, it was at the heart of agitationover agricultural problems. (12)

Central to its agricultural problems was the problem of fencing. In thelate 1860's and early 1870's, this problem had been considered by manyof the citizens of De Kalb County. But it would not be until a fateful

day in 1873 that the technological breakthrough in fencing wouldbegin.

This breakthrough began at the De Kalb County Fair of 1873. At thefair, Henry M. Rose, a local farmer, presented a curious contraption offencing. The fencing consisted of a normal wooden rail "equipped withshort wire points extending out in "sharp projections""(29). Theapparatus was not designed to be an entity to itself, but instead wasmeant to be attached to an existing fence. Rose had merely created thecontraption "to control a "breachy" cow," and due to its simplicity andlimited purpose, the contraption would not have been noteworthy had itnot been for its influence on three men who had attended the fair thatday. These men, Joseph Glidden, Isaac Ellwood, and Jacob Haish hadtaken special notice of Rose's contraption, and they would use his basicidea to stimulate their invention of barbed wire fencing.

It was due to the occupations and interests of these three men that theytook such special interest in the idea of improved fencing. Jacob Haish,the first of these men, was a lumberman, and "since the men with

whom he did business were concerned with the constant search forsuitable fencing material, he was concerned with it too"(30). The


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second man, Isaac Ellwood, was a hardware merchant who served thearea surrounding De Kalb. His customers were also in need of fencing,and "because he was in touch with the rural population of the area, hewas in a position to appreciate the fact that a real improvement infencing could be important"(31). The third man, Joseph Glidden,

perhaps needed improved fencing the most. For as a farmer, "[t]he needfor providing some sort of barricade to keep out stray animals was oneof the gnawing problems of his everyday existence, and he could seethat an "armoured fence attachment" might help in remedying thesituation"(31). Thus, it may be seen that each man possessed a personalstake in the advancement of fencing, and it was this impetus which ledto experimentation and consequently barbed wire fencing.

Joseph Glidden was the first man to begin experimenting with Rose's

design to make a more practical and effective fencing material. UnlikeRose, Glidden saw the advantage of applying barbs to the smooth fencewire that was commonly used in this time. He first experimented in hisfarm kitchen with the help of his wife, simply attaching barbs to thesmooth wire. Yet he quickly realized that this method was alsoineffective, for he "saw that wherever he used the barbed strands, ongarden or cowlot, the twisted wire pieces gradually slid along thestraightened fence strand, and he realized that he must find a way tocrimp the barbs so that they would stay in place"(32). By using a coffeemill, Glidden quickly developed a method of wrapping the wire around

the barb, and "by this method a fairly uniform barb was produced witheach operation of the coffee mill"(32). Furthermore, with the additionaluse of an old grindstone, he wrapped a second wire around the first,"and the result was a double strand of cable having wire barbs securedalong its entire length"(32). Glidden had successfully developed thefirst barbed wire fence, and he tested his invention by fencing in hisown barnyard. Soon other neighboring farmers stopped by to see hisinvention, and in no time, Glidden was producing and selling the

barbed wire to these men.

Isaac Ellwood had also tinkered with the useof barbs and fencing, but to no substantiveend. Upon hearing that Glidden haddeveloped a new fence using the barbs, hedecided to see the invention in person. Thestory tells that Ellwood and his wife took a

buggy ride to Glidden's farm one Sundayafternoon. Upon seeing the invention,Ellwood's wife allegedly made a comment

referring to the superiority of Glidden'sinvention to anything Ellwood had created.


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Apparently Ellwood was enraged; nevertheless, one day later, both menwere in negotiations for going into business together.

Jacob Haish had also developed a barbed wire similar to Glidden's.Upon seeing the Glidden fence, Haish, a determined and competitiveman, realized the inferiority of his own fence and the potential power ofthe Glidden and Ellwood combination. Thus, Haish sprang to improvehis own fencing and to put his own foot into what would become a

patent battle. Glidden had first applied for the patent of his method ofputting barbs on wire on October 27, 1873, yet the patent was notgranted. Haish, applying for patents later, had received two patents on awire and a wire-stretcher in early 1874. On July 17, 1874, he appliedfor his most important patent on his most recent design, the famous "S"

barb. Ten days later, he submitted interference papers on Joseph

Glidden, officially beginning a patent battle between the twocompetitive men.

Joseph Glidden's original design, trade named "The Winner," was notpatented until November 24, 1874, over one year after he had applied.Nevertheless, with the help of Isaac Ellwood, who had bought interestin Glidden's invention by July of 1874, Glidden was not discouraged.Following his application for his patent which was pending, Gliddeninvented a wire stretcher, a second type of barbed wire, and a machinefor making barbed wire fencing. By 1875, Glidden and Ellwood had

developed the Barb Fence Company and were producing and sellingbarbed wire in substantial amounts. Haish, however, did not remainreticent due to Glidden's success. Using his own patents and inventions,he opened up his own barbed wire factory, offering competition in the

production and sale of the product. In spite of the early patent struggles,the battle between Haish and the Barb Fence Company had just begun.In the years following, both would compete for the dominance of the

barbed wire market out of their commonbase of De Kalb, Illinois.

As Jacob Haish, the Barb FenceCompany, and other small barbed wirecompanies began producing more andmore barbed wire, the plain wirecompanies of the East began to takenotice. One such company, theWashburn and Moen Company ofMassachusetts, took special interest, andin February of 1876, its Vice-President, Charles Washburn, traveled to

De Kalb. After failing to negotiate with Haish, Washburn moved to theBarbed Fence Company for a further attempt at negotiation. There
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Washburn found Glidden eager to sell and Ellwood eager toincorporate. After negotiations, Glidden received $60,000 and a royaltyof 25 cents per 100 pounds of barbed wire sold. Ellwood and Washburnmerged to form the I.L. Ellwood and Washburn & Moen Company.With the increased capital, the new company bought the rights to manyof the patents existing for barbed wire and thus extended its power. Bythe late 1870's, this company came to be known as "the Company," dueto its near monopoly of the barbed wire market. Yet competitorscontinued to struggle against this dominance in the years that followed,and thus the battle over barbed wire continued into the 1880's.

To conclude the story of De Kalb, two things must be noted. First,while the inventions in De Kalb have come to be known as the firstexamples of barbed wire, in actuality, many similar inventions existed

in America and other countries before 1873. They were not utilized forproduction, however, and consequently their only significant role in thebarbed wire story was played in the litigation battles of the 1870's and1880's. Secondly, it must be noted that no exact story of the inventionof barbed wire exists. Due to the heated competition of Haish andGlidden, many stories exist, and the one that has been told is simplyone interpretation of the facts. With these cautionary notes, the storycontinues.

The Next Step: Promoting Barbed Wire


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With the establishment of barbed wire factories in De Kalb, Illinoiscame the next step for the industry: promotion. Both Haish and theEllwood and Washburn company were selling good amounts of barbedwire, yet they were aware of the potential for its great demandthroughout the West. Thus, to realize this potential, both companiesturned to promotion of their products. The first step in the promotion oftheir wire was the publication of industry journals, to both advertisetheir own product and to attack their competition. Washburn andEllwood produced "The Glidden Fence Journal," while Haishcounteracted with his production of "The Regulator." These journalsspoke generally about the problems of fencing and the positiveattributes of barbed wire. They would become more inflammatory andsignificant in the patent battles of the later years. The next step in

promotion was the creation of advertising posters. Haish, with

sensationalism and creativity, dominated this aspect of promotion, forEllwood was restrained by the more mild manner of his eastern

partners. Despite their efforts, neither publications nor posters greatlyimproved the demand for their products. Salesmen were needed, andquickly the Ellwood and Washburn company turned to this method of

promotion for greater success.

In late 1874, the Barb Fence Company hadsecured sales representatives to distribute and

promote their product. Of these, the most

important was Henry Bradley Sanborn, arelative of Glidden's. Sanborn first promotedthe wire around De Kalb, and then in 1875,he was sent to Texas, with his partner J.P.Warner. Sanborn and Warner found Texas to

be wrought in conflict and controversybetween the cowmen and so called "nesters"of the region. The cowmen strained to

preserve the open range, while the "nesters"

called for means to better settlement. Amidstthese conditions, Sanborn and Warner found little interest in their

product. Texans were still skeptical of any product of the North, andthey further feared the seemingly cruel nature of the contraption.Furthermore, the lumbermen and cowmen saw threats to their interestswhich barbed wire fencing could provide. Most importantly though,Texans were generally skeptical of the effectiveness of the fencingmaterial in containing their sturdy and wild Longhorn cattle. By 1876,Sanborn and Warner had sold little barbed wire and returned home.

Yet, at this time, Ellwood, who had taken control of the company,refused to give up, still seeing the potential for barbed wire in the West.


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Thus, in late 1876, he "hired an enterprising Illinois farm youth namedGates, as a salesman "to push sales in Texas"--and by so doing, hethrew Texas and the surrounding territory into prominence, and intoconfusion"(68). John Warne Gates had secured his job by arecommendation from Glidden, and at the age of 21, he proceeded toSan Antonio, Texas, to try his hand at promotion. San Antonio drew its

prominence from many factors, including its history, center ofgovernment, and central location. To Gates, more importantly though,its importance drew from its frontier nature and its existence as a"mecca for cattlemen"(69). At first, Gates sold little barbed wire,instead establishing contacts and a ground for future sales. But quickly,Gates made the move that would make himself and barbed wire famousforever. This move may be seen in the story, somewhere betweenfiction and non-fiction, that still exists in barbed wire lore today.

The story tells that John Gates had developed the idea of a barbed wiredemonstration in response to a rancher who had claimed "that "Ol'Jim," a neighbor's bull, "could go through anything"" and that he"reckoned that "the bull would not stop for barbed wire""(70). Gatesattempted to prove him wrong publicly and shouted:

"I've worked something out. I think I've got it. We'll sell morebarbed wire than you can shake a stick at. We'll do like DocLighthall. We'll give 'em a show, right out in front. Get the

wildest damn cattle in Texas--corral 'em here with barbed wireand then let 'em try to get out. That'll show 'em. Ain't a cowhandlivin' won't go for that"(70).

And Gates apparently kept his word, building a corral in downtown SanAntonio and holding a demonstration that held in the wildestLonghorns.

The veracity of the story must be questioned, yet the sales skills of John"Bet-a-Million" Gates cannot be. For between 1874 and 1877, the

production and sale of barbed wire had increased from 10,000 poundsto 12, 863,000 pounds. By 1880, this number had reached 80,500,000.Clearly the promotion of barbed wire had been a success, and itconsequently spread throughout the West fencing in the land. Yet the

battles were not over for the barbed wire industry, as a struggle forsupremacy arose out of this valuable commodity.

The Struggle for Monopoly: From the "Moonshiners" to United

States Steel


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Due to the increased production and power of the Washburn & Moenand I.L. Ellwood company, other independent enterprisers attempted tocontest their growing monopoly. The first wave of this contest came inthe form of lawsuits questioning the company's patents, and by the endthere were more than "28 lawsuits on "prior use" fences"(75). Each ofthese lawsuits had to be fought by what had come to be known as "theCompany," costing it more than 50,000 dollars. For it seemed thatinventors were growing by the day, and the Company had to protect its

patent. The second wave of contest involved the infringement of theCompany's patents. This contest caused the Company furtherdifficulties, and "on this second score Washburn and Ellwood came upagainst still other individuals, and more expenses, for there had sprungup in the wake of success not only many inventors but also manymanufacturers of barbed-wire fencing"(77). For "the very simplicity of

the product invited imitation"(77), and producers sprang up throughoutthe countryside operating without license or patent. "Their status wasdefinitely sub rosa, their life expectancy as businesses was admittedlyshort, but while awaiting decisions from the United States Patent Officeand opinions on the law of the land, they worked feverishly to share inthe barbed wire boom for at least a little while before being required toclose down"(77).

These extralegal producers came to be known as "moonshiners," andmany were organized into a solid group by John Gates, who had by

then disassociated from the Company. The "moonshiners" were able toproduce their product at a lower cost, and thus offered a serious threatto the Company due to their lower prices. They moved West, formingmore groups, such as the Iowa Farmer's Protective Association,dedicated to fighting the monopoly of the Company.

The infringement of the Company's rights led to years and years ofextensive litigation, including one case that reached the Supreme Courtin 1892. Yet the culmination of all the litigation was reached in 1880.

In this year, Judges Thomas Drummond and Henry Blodgett handeddown in Chicago a joint decision that "Jacob Haish's famous 'S' barbwas decreed an infringement on patents judged to be foundation

patents,"(83) which were all in possession of the Company. Whilespecific to Haish, the decision spelled doom for all other manufacturers,for it stated that the Company possessed sole rights to the production of

barbed wire. Haish, Gates, and the "moonshiners" were ruined;infringement patents were turned over to the Company, royalties weredemanded, and damages were assessed. In the end, the Washburn &Moen and I.L. Ellwood Company possessed an essential monopoly on

the barbed wire industry.


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The final consequence of the struggle for monopoly over barbed wirewas its incorporation into larger steel companies. By 1891, Ellwood anGates had rejoined forces and had incorporated their holdings into theColumbia Wire Company. By 1898, Gates, acting on his own, had

bought most of the Washburn and Moen Company and had establishedthe American Steel and Wire Company. Eventually, Gates incorporatedinto J.P. Morgan's United States Steel, in the year 1901. Thus by theturn of the century, the production of barbed wire had transferred fromthe small shops of De Kalb to the giant corporation in the East. UnitedStates Steel would produce barbed wire in the 20th century, thesynthesis of decades of struggle for the monopoly of barbed wire.

And thus ends the story of the development and production of barbedwire, but the general story of the invention continues. For in the next

part, the introduction of barbed wire to the West will be closelyexamined, exposing the culture of the West and how it reacted to thisnew invention.

Part Two: The Introduction of Barbed Wire to the

Frontier

Part Two: The Introduction of Barbed

Wire to the Frontier

Table of Contents

Part One: The Development and Production of Barbed Wire

Part Two: The Introduction of Barbed Wire to the Frontier

o The Old Guard: The Cowmen of the Frontier

o Changing Tradition: Barbed Wire Ranches in Texas

o Revolution Spurs Conlict: The Final Struggle Against Barbed Wire
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o Conclusion: The End of the Open Range

Biographies of the Inventors

The Old Guard: The Cowmen of the Frontier

The first pioneers to the West were of a different sort of man, moreadventurous and more wandering, and were known as the Americancowmen. Coming early to the West, they had discovered endless plainsof tall grasses, where wild buffalo and wild cattle aimlessly grazed. Theconditions of the land did not invite permanent settlement, due to thescarcity of trees and water. Yet to the cowmen, who hadserendipitously "turned his oxen out to die in the winter on the high

plains, but found in the spring that they were "not only alive but in

better condition then when he had turned them loose""(9), newopportunities became apparent. And thus the cowman developed hissense of place and sense of ownership of the Plains and Southwest:

He saw it as natural rangeland and he used it as such. He tookupon himself the tending of great herds. He marshalled cattlefrom natural grasslands to natural water. He turned to the lonelylife of keeper of stock, guarding his animals against wolves andindians, fire and drought, shadeless heat and driving cold. The

land which he had found open and free for range cattle, hemaintained open and free for range cattlemen; he kept it intact.But he came to regard it in its early history as his own domain.(10)

While the cowmen had settled the West prior to the Civil War, it wasnot until after the Civil War that their empire was built. For in theseyears the demand for meat reached unprecedented levels, driving thecattle of the cowmen to high values. Thus, "the men who controlled theranges suddenly were in a position to gain great benefit"(11). With this

potential benefit came the need for a hierarchy to establish their power,and thus the cowmen established codes to govern the West and to

protect it from outsiders. Principal among such codes was the Law ofthe Open Range, "the unwritten rule of free access fo grass andwater"(11). Most cowmen did not own the land on which their cattlegrazed, and thus the Law of the Open Range secured their rights, bywarning farmer-pioneers "not to stand in the cowman's route to theranges, not to block his way with towns and fields--and of all things--fences"(11).

And hence the problem of the frontier arose. For farmers needed fencesto protect their crops from livestock, and these fences threatened the
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livelihood of the cowman. Yet, up to 1873, no suitable fencing existedfor the pioneer-farmer. Nevertheless, in this year, as it has been seen, aninvention in fencing would transform the lives of farmers and cowmenalike and would create a true struggle for the American frontier.

Changing Tradition: Barbed Wire Ranches in Texas

Traditionally fences had been used by farmers to keep livestock out oftheir crops. Yet, in Texas, in the 1880;s, tradition was changing, and forthe first time ranches were being built utilizing barbed wire to keeplivestock in. The most prominent of these ranches, the Frying Pan andXIT, served to demonstrate to cowmen the benefit of fencing, and thusthey existed as harbingers of the new frontier.

The first ranch, the Frying Pan, was bought by the barbed wire men ofIllinois, Henry Sanborn and Joseph Glidden. The men hoped to use theranch as an experiment for barbed wire. For "they had come to theTexas Panhandle to promote their long sought material suitable forfencing the Western Plains"(115). These two men saw the fencing as amethod to keep their cattle in, and thus they presented a novel purposefor the new fencing. In the end, 150 miles of barbed wire fencing wasconstructed at a price of over 39,000 dollars, to contain 1500 head ofcattle. Their experiment worked, yet both men were seen as outsiders tothe cattle culture of Texas. It would take further examples to convince

the cattlemen of this use of their product.

The second ranch, the XIT, developed out of the burning of the Texascapitol building in 1881. Following the destructive burning, the Texaslegislature, in 1882, declared "that state-owned lands would be set asidefor the erection of a new statehouse"(120). The legislature furtherdecreed that the building must be one foot taller than the nationalcapitol building in Washington, and thus three million acres ofPanhandle Plains were set aside to cover this incredible cost. The mento receive this land, in exchange for building the massive building inAustin, were of the Capitol Syndicate of Illinois. Quickly, theydeveloped their ideas of how to construct the prodigious XIT ranch.

Principal among their ideas for the ranch was barbed wire fencing.They saw early the benefits of barbed wire fencing, for they were in aunique position:

They were not free-pasture men. They were not champions ofthe Open Range. They themselves, though controlling cattle,

were not even cattlemen in the usual sense of the term. Butneither were they squatters or nesters, come to break up the land


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into small farms and settlements. They were in a unique position;they were owners whose cattle would obviously benefit fromfencing, and they were ranchers who believed in confinement ofherds, although the extent of their ranges belied the use of such aword as "confinement." Their outlook presaged an overallchange in philosophy for the cattle industry. They were amongthe first to put into practice the theory that cattle-proof fenceswere advantageous for Western cattlemen as well as foragriculturalists.(134)

Indeed, with its incredible amount of fencing, land, and cattle, the XITranch made a powerful statement. In the years following itsconstruction, other ranchers would follow its course, transforming theOpen Range into a closed land of fences.

A striking example of the transition from the Old Guard of free-rangecattlemen to the new revolution of fencing may be seen in the characterof Abel "Shanghai" Pierce, whose ranch near Matagorda, Texasoccupied much of the Texas Gulf Coast. In the early years of fencing,Pierce was fully opposed to the prospect of fencing the Open Range.He claimed that ""as long as water runs and grass grows here . . .," "thiswill be open prairie""(142). His cattle roamed openly on the Plains formany years up until the 1880's. At this time, following the lead of theXIT and Frying Pan, and due much in part to his brother's farming

aspirations and a conflict with a neighbor, Pierce began buying his landand fencing it in with barbed wire. It may be said that "the final factorwhich changed "Old Shang" Pierce from a "free grass man" to alandowner and builder of fences was the proven suitability of barbedwire as fencing for the prairie-plains"(148). And like Pierce, manyother ranchers who had held on to the ways of old were giving into theways of new. Fencing with barbed wire had been accepted on thefrontier, and the closing of the Open Range was at hand. Yet the swiftchanges of this revolution would not come without conflict, and the

1880's were full of conflicts arising out of the opposition to barbed wirefencing.

Revolution Spurs Conflict: The Final Struggle Against Barbed Wire

The first major setback to barbed wire fencing came to be known as"the big die up"(128) and occurred between 1885 and 1887. Between1882 and 1885, when barbed wire ranches were still uncommon to thePlains, large sections of barbed wire fences, known as "drift fences,"were "erected by cattlemen of the Texas Panhandle and adjacent areas

in an effort to keep cattle in the north from coming onto southernranges"(129). With the approach of strong winters, cattle from the


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North would turn south, overcrowding and destroying what remained ofthe already overgrazed Panhandle grasses. Thus to prevent such anoccurrence, the cattlemen of the Panhandle constructed a massive "driftfence" from East to West, creating a massive barrier to the herds of the

North. As planned, when the extreme winters of 1885-1887 hit thePlains, the cattle of the North moved south as far as possible, untilimpeded by the "drift fences" that had been constructed. However, noone was prepared for the consequences of this new built barrier. Theresults were as follows:

They moved "like grey ghosts . . . [with] icicles hanging fromtheir muzzles, eyes, and ears," toward the Texas Panhandle, anddirectly into the fences. There they were stalled; they could notgo forward, and they would not go back. They stood stacked

together against the wire, without food, water, warmth or shelter.The pressed close against each other in groups all along thefence line, and sometimes they gathered in bunches reaching asmuch as four hundred yards back from the fence. Still there wasnot enough warmth in their huddled forms to counteract the cold,and within a short time they either smothered or froze in theirtracks. (132)

The cattlemen of the Plains were outraged with the resultant enormousloss, which was estimated to be as high as 75 percent in some herds.

The result was "only resentment--growing, mounting, ragingresentment, which was sure to cause a serious setback in plans for thefuture of barbed wire"(135). For the men of the Plains had their firstreason to oppose and hate barbed wire, and as time progressed, greaterreasons would develop.

The greatest cause against barbed wire grew out of the closing of theOpen Range. With the purchase of land and fencing in of the range,many small ranchers and cowmen were left without land for their cattle

to feed on and without water for their cattle to drink from. Thus withthe growing hatred of barbed wire, and now a new impetus for survival,many men of the frontier began to take action. The first steps weresimply cutting down the fences, but quickly, the scene developed into afull range war. Small interests were matched against big interests, as

blood was shed, fences were cut to pieces, and communities were tornapart. Vigilante justice reigned supreme, and terror seized the land.Eventually state legislatures were called to end the problem, which didnot cease until the late 1880's. In the end, the barbed wire had won. Yetthe range wars had made their mark on the history of the West as a final

stand against the arrival of change.


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Conclusion: The End of the Open Range

With the legislation to protect barbed wire and further legislation topromote homesteading, the frontier had been won. The Open Rangewas gone, and in its place stood a land covered by fences. Yet thechange to the landscape did not stand alone with the advent of fencing,for in addition, many cultural and agricultural transformations hadoccurred as well. Through an examination of these further changes that

barbed wire incurred upon the frontier, its complete meaning may bebetter understood. For from this, it may be seen how an invention, withits humble beginnings in De Kalb, could come to truly transform theAmerican frontier.

The Biographies of the Inventors

From the Biographical Record of De Kalb County,

Illinois, 1898, Courtesy of The Ellwood House Museum

Joseph F. Glidden Isaac L. Ellwood

Jacob Haish
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am485_98/cook/develp3.htm#glidhttp://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am485_98/cook/develp3.htm#ellhttp://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am485_98/cook/develp3.htm#jakehttp://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am485_98/cook/develp3.htm#glidhttp://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am485_98/cook/develp3.htm#ellhttp://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am485_98/cook/develp3.htm#jake


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Joseph F. Glidden.--Often do we hear it said of those who have attaineddistinguished honors by reason of a well spent and successful life thatthey were men who rose to eminence through adventitiouscircumstances, and yet to such carping criticisms and lack ofappreciation there needs to be made but the one statement that fortunateenvironments encompass nearly every man at some stage in his career,

but the strong man and the successful man is he who realizes that theproper moment has come, that the present and not the future holds hisopportunity. The man who makes use of the Now and not the To Be isthe one who passes on the high way of life others who started out aheadof him and reaches the goal of prosperity far in advance of them. It isthis quality in Mr. Glidden that has made him a leader in the businessworld and won him a name in connection with the industrial interests ofthe country that is known throughout the United States.

The salient points in his life history are as follows: He was bornJanuary 18, 1813, in Charleston, Sullivan County, New Hampshire, his

parents being David and Polly (Hurd) Glidden, also natives of thatstate. During the infancy of our subject they removed to a farm inOrleans county, New York, where they remained until 1844, when theyemigrated westward. After a short residence in Ogle county, Illinois,they came to De Kalb county, spending the rest of their days in thehome of their son, Joseph F., who rewarded them for their care of himin boyhood by untiring devotion to their comforts and needs.

On the home farm in New York our subject was reared and his ampletraining in the fields through the summer months was supplemented bymental training in the school room during the winter season. He alsostudied algebra and the classics in addition to the common English

branches, hoping to pursue a collegiate course, but that plan was finallyabandoned. He, however, studied for a time in Middlebury Academy, inGenesee county, and in the seminary at Lima, New York. Afterteaching school for some time he returned to farming as a more

congenial occupation and operated rented land. He had no money tobuy, but he knew that in the Mississippi valley there stretched acre afteracre of broad prairie hitherto uncultivated, and with the hope ofsecuring a farm of his own he came to Illinois in the fall of 1842.Leaving the Empire state he proceeded to Detroit with two threshingmachines of primitive construction and spent thirty days on the wheatfarms of Michigan, operating his threshers with the assistance of his

brother, Willard, and two other men. He subsequently shipped hismachines to Chicago and then to De Kalb county, where he followedthreshing two years. In the winter after his arrival he purchased six

hundred acres of land of section 22, De Kalb township, a mile west ofthe village, and at once began to develop and improve it. He still owns


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that property which he has made one of the finest farms in Illinois, itsboundaries having been extended until it comprises more than eighthundred acres, the greater part of which is under a high state ofcultivation, while substantial buildings and other modern accessoriesindicate the practical and progressive spirit of the owner. Other landswere purchased by Mr. Glidden as his capital has increased and he nowowns over fifteen hundred acres, wherefrom he derives a good income.He has always been interested in the raising of fine stock and inconnection with H.B. Sanborn is the owner of a cattle ranch in Texas,where they are herding about sixteen thousand head of cattle. They owntwo hundred and eighty sections of land, covering two hundred andeighty square miles of territory and requiring one hundred and fiftymiles of fencing. This has now been turned over to his daughter, Mrs.Bush, who owns one hundred thousand acres.

But it is in the connection with the invention of barbed wire that Mr.Glidden is best known to the world. His name in that connection iswidely familiar. The lack of timber in Illinois made lumber for fencingvery expensive and how to obtain fencing material at a low price was a

problem which presented itself without solution. Some attempted toobviate the difficulty with only partial success. As early as 1867 barbwire had been invented, but it was imperfect and further study andlabor were required to make it a marketable commodity. Mr. Gliddenwas a practical agriculturalist. His own broad acres required fencing

and occasioned his study of the subject. Careful thought, investigationand experiment followed, and October, 1873, he applied for patent,which was granted the next spring. He did not here end his labors butcontinued his work of improvements and tested the utility of hisinvention by the use of his fencing on his own farm. The barbs were cut

by hand and afterward the parts of an old coffee mill wereextemporized as a machine for coiling them about the wire. When a

piece of twenty or thirty feet long had been barbed, a smooth wire wasplaced beside it and one pair of ends was fastened to a tree and the

other attached to the axle of a grindstone, which by turning with a crankgave it the required twist. Having secured his patents Mr. Gliddenentered into a partnership with I.L. Ellwood, a hardware merchant ofDe Kalb and a practical man of affairs, who was placed in charge of the

business management, operations being begun under the firm name ofGlidden & Ellwood. There is no doubt, however, that Mr. Glidden isthe inventor of the perfected barb wire now in use. He applied for his

patent in 1873, his claim was acknowledged and he secured it. He soldhis interest in 1876, but continued to draw his royalties until 1891. Hehas been the inventor of all essential features of barb wire machines

now in use, and to him is due the great credit for bringing to the peopleof the west a cheap and serviceable substitute for the stone, rail or


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wooden fences once in use. As time passed the business grew and wasremoved from the farm to the village, where a small factory wasestablished, and here the improvement was made of using horse powerto do the twisting, the barbs being slipped on to one end of the wire andthen placed the proper distance apart by hand. In 1875 the company

built the first part of the old brick shop, put in a small steam engine,which was made to do the twisting, and Mr. Glidden and T.W. Vaughnobtained a patent for some devices for barbing and spooling that provedof efficient aid to the workmen.

In 1876 Mr. Glidden sold his interest in the business to the Washburn &Moen Manufacturing Company, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and theeffectiveness and utility of the new invention having been fullydemonstrated the business increased with astonishing rapidity. Mr.

Glidden has realized a fortune from his invention, obtaining a largeroyalty until 1891. Business cares, however, he never laid aside.Indolence and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature, and he stilldevotes many hours each day to the superintendence of his businessinterests. He is the owner of the De Kalb Roller Mills, has been vice-

president of the De Kalb National Bank since its organization in 1883,and is the proprietor of the Glidden House, making a very genial and

popular landlord. He has carried forward to successful completion allthat he has undertaken in the business world. His business methodshave ever commended him to the confidence of the public, for he never

swerves from the strict path of honesty, and his success has been wonalong the lines of unflagging industry and enterprise, guided by sound

judgement and careful management. His relation with his employeeshad ever been one of friendly interest, and he is quick to recognize trueworth in a man, no matter how humble his station in life. He is everwilling to aid the industrious and his industries have been such as

promote the public prosperity as well as advance individual success.

His deep interest in public affairs and the welfare of the community

was shown by his liberal donation of sixty-four acres of land to the thenormal school, provided the institution was located in De Kalb. Thisland was a part of a homestead and had been entered by him from thegovernment when Indians still crossed it with their trails. At thesuggestion of Jacob Haish, and in the presence of about one hundredand fifty citizens, Mr. Glidden broke the soil with a lead pencil

prepatory to building, as this little utencil was considered emblematicof literature and education. He has always voted the Democratic ticketand is loyal and stanch in support of the principles of his party, onwhose ticket he was elected county sheriff in 1852, being the last

Democratic official in the county.


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Mr. Glidden has been twice married. He was married in 1837, inClarendon, New York, to Clarissa Foster, and when he startedwestward he left his wife and two children in New York, but both ofthe latter died before Mrs. Glidden came to the west. She died in Oglecounty, in June, 1843, and a daughter born at that time died in earlyinfancy. The children of that marriage were Virgil, Homer, andClarissa. In October, 1851, in Kane county, Illinois, Mr. Gliddenwedded Lucinda, daughter of Henry Warne, and they have onedaughter, Elva Frances, wife of W.H. Bush, a merchant of Chicago.Mrs. Glidden died in 1895. Mr. Glidden is a man of domestic tastes andhis home has ever been to him the dearest spot on earth. The interestsof his wife and daughter were always paramount with him, andfriendship is always inviolable. In those finer traits of character whichattract and endear man to man in ties of friendship, which triumph over

misfortune and shine brightest in the hour of adversity, in thesequalities he is royally endowed. Few men have more devoted friendsthan he, and none excel him in unselfish devotion and unswervingfidelity to the worthy recipients of his confidence and friendship. Whilehis invention has won him world-wide fame, these qualities havegained him the respect and warm regard of all whom he has met

personally and as one of Illinois' most prominent and worthy citizens hemay well be numbered.

Isaac Leonard Ellwood.--The life history of him whose name heads thissketch is closely identified with the history of De Kalb, which has beenhis home for forty-three years. He began his remarkable career herewhen the city was a little village. He has grown with its growth, and has

been largely instrumental in its development. His life has been one of


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untiring activity, and has been crowned with a degree of successattained by comparatively few men.

A native of New York, Isaac L. Ellwood was born in Salt Springville,Montgomery county, August 3, 1833, and is the seventh son in thefamily of Abraham and Sarah (Delong) Ellwood. In early youth he

began to earn his own livelihood. He was fitted for the responsibleduties of life only by a limited common-school education, but his forceof character, unflagging energy and perseverance made up for his lackof early opportunities. Driving a team on the Erie canal at ten dollars

per month, and later clerking in a store until eighteen years of age, thushis youth was passed. The discovery of gold on the Pacific slope,however, brought a change in his life, for, with the hope of morequickly realizing a fortune, he made his way to California in 1851 and

spent four years in that state. He worked in mines for a year, and thensecured a position as salesman in a Sacramento store. By industry andeconomy he managed to secure a small capital, but not wishing toinvest this in the far west he retraced his steps to Illinois, andestablished a little hardware store in De Kalb in 1855. His history fromthat time forward is one of interest, showing, as it does, that there is noroyal road to wealth, but that industry and a fit utilization of hisopportunities has brought him to the goal toward which all businessmen are eagerly wending their way. For twenty years he carried on hisstore, increasing his stock as his patronage justified. His travels through

Illinois as an auctioneer, and his contact with farmers, brought to hisknowledge a condition of affairs which in later years he was able toimprove. Illinois' broad prairies offered special inducements to theagriculturalists, but they had great difficulty in securing fences whichwould indicate the boundaries of their land and prevent cattle fromdestroying their crops. As there were no forests lumber was veryexpensive, and then, too, the board fences were being continually

broken down and in need of repair. J.F. Glidden invented what is todayknown as the Glidden barb wire and Mr. Ellwood assisted him in

obtaining patents, having a half interest in the invention. In 1876 Mr.Glidden sold his interest to the Wasburn & Moen Company, and theytogether, after a litigation of some years, granted licenses to variousfactories. Through Mr. Ellwood's influence and foresight, all of theunderlying and first patents on barb wire and machinery for making thesame were combined together, enabling him, with the assistance ofothers, to build up one of the largest and most successful businessenterprises in the history of the country. For forty years farming wascarried on in this section of the United States with the same need offencing material, yet not until the year mentioned did any one take

advantage of the opportunity to give the world this important invention.For a time Mr. Ellwood was associated in the manufacture of barb wire


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with Mr. Glidden and afterward with the Washburn & Moen Company,of Worcester, Massachusetts. This connection continued for some time,

but Mr. Ellwood is now the exclusive owner and manager of the largemanufacturing establishment at De Kalb, doing business under the firmname of the I.L. Ellwood Manufacturing Company. When he wasassociated with Mr. Glidden he was placed in charge of the businessmanagement of the firm, and to his tact and business ability may beattributed in no small measure the success of the enterprise.

From time to time improvements have of course been made. Countlessobjections were urged against the new fencing material, but this was to

be expected, for no successful invention ever came at once into generaluse. Its utility, however, was soon demonstrated, and the salesincreased rapidly after a time. The fencing began to be used not only by

the farmers but also by the railroad companies; and although therailroad corporations were loath at first to accept the invention, theyhave today thousands of miles of road enclosed with barb wire fence. Inorder to turn out his material at a lower cost, it was seen that it would

be necessary to have automatic machinery, which was secured throughthe efforts of Mr. Ellwood. This machine was made for the purpose oftaking the raw wire from the coil, barb, twist and spool it ready for use;and in perfecting this invention over one million dollars were spent, butthe result was at length attained, and one machine was able to do itmore perfectly. The works of the I.L. Ellwood Manufacturing Company

are very extensive, the capacity being about twenty-five car loads everyten hours, and in this establishment employment is furnished to aboutsix hundred men. It is now consolidated with the American Steel &Wire Company. While others are also engaged in the manufacture of

barbed wire, it is a widely recognized fact throughout the country thatthis industry owes its successful establishment to Mr. Ellwood.

On the 27th of January, 1859, Mr. Ellwood married Miss HarrietMiller, and they became the parents of four sons and three daughters,

but two of the sons are now deceased. Those living are William L.,Mrs. Dr. Mayo, Mrs. J.H. Lewis, Mrs. B.F. Ray and E.P. Ellwood.

Although a stanch Republican in his political views, Mr. Ellwood hasalways declined to accept political office, save that of alderman of hisadopted city, in which capacity he served his fellow townsmen for atime. He has always taken great interest in the promulgation of the

principles of the party, and in the annual meetings of its representativemen in Illinois he is always invited and his advice is listened to withinterest, and his views meet general acceptance. While refusing office,

he was, however, appointed upon the staff of Governor Tanner, withthe rank of colonel, and is now serving that position. There is no more


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progressive or public-spirited citizen in De Kalb county, and hewithholds his support from no movement or enterprise tending toadvance the public good. In securing for De Kalb the Northern Illinois

Normal, Colonel Ellwood gave much time and attention, spendingweeks at the state capitol, using his influence with legislators insecuring the passage of the bill creating the institution, and its locationat De Kalb. In 1896, a bill was passed by the general assembly of thestate, appropriating seventy-five thousand dollars to the buildings, andin 1898, one appropriating fifty thousand dollars. In addition to this thecity of De Kalb gave seventy thousand dollars. By the governor he wasappointed trustee of the school, and is now serving as such. Whileothers were working for the same object, it is due to him the greatershare of credit for securing such a noble institution.

Colonel Ellwood is a charitable and benevolent man, one of broadhumanitarian principles, who regards not lightly his duty to his fellowmen. He has climbed steadily upwards, and all the time he has had ahand reaching down to assist others less fortunate. Always ready toencourage industry and energy, his employees know that faithfulservice means promotions as opportunity offers. He has won forhimself very favorable comment for the careful and systematic methodshe has followed in business. He realized the intrinsic value of minor aswell as greater opportunities, has ever stood ready to take advantage ofcircumstances, and even mold adverse conditions until they serve his

ends, and in all relations has maintained and unassailable reputation forintegrity and honor.

Jacob Haish, the originator and inventor of the barb wire and theautomatic machine used in its manufacture, in the true sense of the term


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is a self-made man. With limited opportunities for study, or for theexercise of any special talent, he has made a name that has brought himnational fame and honors that were little dreamed of when as a boy andyouth he struggled with adverse fortune. For years his manufactory atDe Kalb, Illinois, has been one of the noted institutions of the city andstate, where he has turned out millions of pounds of barb wire ofvarious patterns, including the "Eli" barb, the "S" barb and the"Glidden" barb. But he has not confined himself alone to themanufacture of barb wire, but has likewise made a specialty of themanufacture of woven wire fencing, plain wire, staples, nails, theRustler disk harrows, tubular steel and wood beam hustler leverharrows, barrel carts, bob sleds, etc. His manufactory has been averitable hive of industry, and he has given employment to hundreds ofman at good, living wages.

Jacob Haish was born near Colsul, Baden, Germany, March 9, 1827,and is the son of Christian and Christina Haish, natives of Germany,who emigrated with their family to America, in 1836, when Jacob was

but nine years of age. They located in the south part of Pennsylvania,where they remained but a short time, during which, however, the wifeand mother passed away, leaving Jacob, but ten years of age, an age,indeed, when all boys should have the protecting care of mother toshield them from the dangers which beset their path. The father with hismotherless children soom removed to Crawford county, Ohio, where he

purchased a farm of eighty acres in the woods, with the Indians for hisneighbors, and entered upon the herculean task of subduing it.

Christian Haish was by trade a carpenter, and his son, our subject, soonacquired a full knowledge of that trade. On the farm, however, he livedand worked, alternating his labors by attending school and using the

plane and saw till he attained his twentieth year. In 1846, he left thepaternal roof, turned his face towards the setting sun, and finallylocated at Naperville, Du Page county, Illinois, where he followed

agricultural pursuits for several seasons. While living in Du Pagecounty, Mr. Haish formed the first partnership of his lifein the person ofMiss Sophie Ann Brown, with whom he was united in marriage, May24, 1847. This partnership has never been dissolved, but has becomestronger by the flight of years. Mrs. Haish is a native of New York,

born March 10, 1829. She has proved herself a helpmeet, and a true andfaithful wife, not only in the palmy days of luxury, but in the stern andstirring days of opposition and competition, which try the temper anddisposition of man.

One year after his marriage, Mr. Haish removed to Pierce township, DeKalb county, where he carried on farming for some three years. In


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1854, he moved into the village of De Kalb, where he worked at histrade. After his first one hundred dollars were saved, he purhased a billof lumber, and from that time began to contract and build a businesswhich he followed successfully for fifteen years. It was while in this

business that Mr. Haish was annoyed by the farmers who were anxiousto secure sound boards for fenccing, strong enough to resist brute force.This brought to his mind the first idea of a fence. He first began byweaving osage on a fence so that the thorns would prick the stock. Thiswas not practical, however, but opened up the way to new fields ofspeculation and invention. Mr. Haish next conceived the idea of making"thorns" of wire, but using only one wire, it slipped and provedunsatisfactory. This was in 1873. He next thought of putting two wirestogether, forming a twist, with the barb between them, when "presto"we have the barb wire complete.

Mr. Haish first made the wire in sections, thinking that to be used forfencing purposes it must be so constructed. Each section was sixteenfeet long. He put one side the first section that he constructed, thinkingnothing more of it until a farmer came in one day and offered him fiftycents for it, but on this wire he secured a patent January 20, 1874. Henext conceived the idea of inventing an automatic machine to make hisfence wire. This machine must form the twist, spool, put in the barb,and thus complete the fence. Mr. Haish was urged by his friends toabandon his project as chimerical, but he could not be turned aside, for,

with a vision of a prophet, he looked down the vista of time and sawrevealed unto him the midday glory and triumph of the fair and theshapely form of the "S" barb, which was all this time taking shape andcomeliness in the evolutions of his mind. He was advised by hiscounsel to enter a caveat to secure his right, but the time ran out beforehe applied for a patent, thus throwing him out of his right to themachine. He then had it manufactured by a mechanic, who patented it,and sold the right to Mr. Haish. In this way he secured his originalmachine.

The summary of this matter is this: Mr. Haish introduced one of thefirst successful barb wires; he made the first wooden spool upon whichthe wire is coiled; he used the first paint or varnish; he shipped the firstspool by rail or water; and introduced it into eight states, before anyother man shipped any. He also introduced the first automatic machinefor manufacturing the barb wire, but he was not to have his rightswithout a severe contest, and no contest over a patent right was ever sowidely advertised, never so stubbornly contested, and never socourageously defended. Mr. Haish believed with all his heart that he

was right, and on the strength of that belief he advanced, he fought, heconquered. During all this time the "S" barb went rejoicing on its way,


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gaining strength and friends in its onward march. Now, in ripemanhood, Mr. Haish can look back and see in his far reaching sagacity,the vast importance of his new and cherished industry, the HaishManufacturing Company of De Kalb.

Mr. Haish enjoys the finest and most palatial residence in the city of DeKalb. This grand and imposing edifice he conceived in his own fertile

brain. Even the beautiful and exquisite artistic designs which adorn thewalls and ceilings of his house were first planned by himself and have ahistory or point a moral. The painting on the dome--the four seasons--ismagnificent and imposing. There is indeed harmony all through theinterior of this beautiful and comfortable home. But the harmony of thefurnishings is not to be compared to the harmony that exists betweenthe happy inmates who occupy the home.

In 1884 Mr. Haish organized the Barb City Bank, of De Kalb, of whichhe is president, while George Baldwin is cashier. Besides owning the

bank, he owns land in Dakota, Denver, Colorado, Kansas, Ohio andChicago. In De Kalb city he owns about one hundred and thirty houses,and in the township he has about twelve farms. With all this wealth, heis the same Jacob Haish he was when he worked at the carpenter's

bench, willing to help his fellow-men, who are in need, and whoappreciate being helped. He is deeply interested in the education of theyoung, and the building up of his adopted city. For the State Normal

School, he willingly and cheerfully contributed ten thousand dollars.He is ever ready to assist with his means any laudable enterprise, and itcan be safely said of him that he has done as much as any other oneman to advance the material interests of his adopted city and county.

the development and rise of barbed wire

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