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Okla-homey
10/27/2009, 06:52 AM
Oct 27, 1873: Joe Glidden patents commercially successful barbed wire.

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136 years ago, on this day in 1873, a De Kalb, Illinois, farmer named Joseph Glidden submits an application to the U.S. Patent Office for his clever new design for a fencing wire with sharp barbs, an invention that will forever change the face of the American West.

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Joseph Glidden was born on Jan 18, 1813 in Clarendon, New York where he lived until 1842. He taught school and farmed, marrying Clarissa Foster in 1837 at 24 years of age. He moved to DeKalb, Illinois in 1843 and bought a farm. An epidemic claimed the lives of two sons and later, his wife and baby died in childbirth. At 38 years of age, Glidden married Lucinda Warne and was elected Sheriff of the county. In 1873 at sixty years of age he invented his version of barbed wire and applied for a patent. In 1874, he sold one half interest in the patent to Isaac Ellwood and they built a factory in downtown DeKalb to manufacture the product. In 1876, Glidden sold his half of the patent to Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company for $60,000 and royalties. (BTW, that company eventually evolved into a faucet manufacturer.) Eventually, Glidden owned a large farm, a 250,000 acre ranch in Texas, a hotel, bank, and newspaper.

Glidden's was by no means the first barbed wire; he only came up with his design after seeing an exhibit of Henry Rose's single-stranded barbed wire at the De Kalb county fair. But Glidden's design significantly improved on Rose's by using two strands of wire twisted together to hold the barbed spur wires firmly in place.

Glidden's wire also soon proved to be well suited to mass production techniques, and by 1880 more than 80 million pounds of inexpensive Glidden-style barbed wire was sold, making it the most popular wire in the nation.

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Various other forms of barbed wire existed and were patented in the 19th c., but Glidden's remained the most popular. Seen here from top to bottom: Glidden's Barb, Large Double-strand, Square-wire Variation. Variation of Glidden's Winner, patented November 24, 1874 by Joseph F. Glidden of De Kalb, Illinois. Harbaugh's Torn Ribbon. Patented June 7, 1881 by Joseph W. Harbaugh of Lawrence, Kansas. Colwell's Saddle Barb. Patented April 4, 1876 by Myron W. Colwell of Dunlap, Iowa. Crandal's Zigzag. Patented November 4, 1879 by Edward M. Crandal of Chicago, Illinois. Hodge's Spur Wheel, Ten-point Variation. Variation of Hodge's Spur Wheel, patented August 2, 1887 by Chester A. Hodge of Beloit, Wisconsin. Baker's Barb, Perfect Variation. Variation of Baker's Barb, patented February 27, 1883 by George C. Baker of Des Moines, Iowa.

Prairie and plains farmers quickly discovered that Glidden's wire was the cheapest, strongest, and most durable way to fence their property. As one fan wrote, "it takes no room, exhausts no soil, shades no vegetation, is proof against high winds, makes no snowdrifts, and is both durable and cheap."

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U.S. Patent document

The effect of this simple invention on the life in the Great Plains was huge. Since the plains were largely treeless, a farmer who wanted to construct a fence had little choice but to buy expensive and bulky wooden rails shipped by train and wagon from distant forests. Even of a landowner could afford wooden fencing, he had another problem.

See, livestock often lean against fences in order to graze along fencerows. In time, that pushing could result in a break in the fence. Barbed wire solved the problem because the barbs made it painful for the animal to push against the fence thus ensuring its survival.

Without the alternative offered by cheap and portable barbed wire, few farmers would have attempted to homestead on the Great Plains, since they could not have afforded to protect their farms from grazing herds of cattle and sheep.

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Barbed wire has been put to military use almost since its invention and is still used. Combat engineers found it was a quick and easy way to build anti-personnel entanglements and obstructions, especially when covered by automatic weapons fire and reinforced with mines

Barbed wire also brought a speedy end to the era of the open-range cattle industry. Within the course of just a few years, many ranchers discovered that thousands of small homesteaders were fencing over the open range where their cattle had once freely roamed, and that the old technique of driving cattle over miles of unfenced land to railheads in Dodge City or Abilene was no longer possible.

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RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
10/27/2009, 11:40 AM
Interesting! I wonder whether Glidden was related to the Glidden Paint people. I know, google it.

stoopified
10/27/2009, 11:18 PM
Damn,I was thinking plow.

btk108
10/27/2009, 11:41 PM
Barbwire is the enemy when it's between me and the fire.....