1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: a show that untangles history one day at a time. 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're looking at an invention 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: that forever changed the face of the American West, and 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: not necessarily for the better. The day was November eighteen 7 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: seventy four. Farmer and rancher Joseph Glidden was granted a 8 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: patent for double stranded barbed wire. His unique design proved 9 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: to be an ideal fencing material for the western territories 10 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: of the United States Because it was easily mass produced, 11 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: Glidden's wire was an affordable and highly effective way for 12 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: settlers to enclose their property. That way, their cattle couldn't 13 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: get out and any would be thieves couldn't get in. 14 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,679 Speaker 1: Glidden was far from the first to come up with 15 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: the idea for barbed wire. In fact, other US patents 16 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: pre date his by as much as seven years, and 17 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: Glidden's design was directly inspired by one of those other 18 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: barbed wires. In eighteen seventy three, inventor Henry Rose set 19 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: up an exhibit at the Decab County Fair in Illinois, 20 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: which happened to be Joseph Glindden's hometown. Rose was there 21 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: to show off his promising new invention, a single strand 22 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: of wire with a series of small, sharp barbs wrapped 23 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: around it at different points. Rose touted barbed wire as 24 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: the perfect way defence in cattle, but when Glidden visited 25 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: the exhibit, he saw obvious room for improvement. Namely, there 26 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: was nothing to hold the barbs in place. When the 27 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: wire was moved, they just slid around freely. Glidden solved 28 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: that prob by twisting a second strand of smooth wire 29 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: together with the first, so that the barbs between them 30 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,360 Speaker 1: were locked in place. He filed for a patent on 31 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: this new double stranded design in October of eighteen seventy three, 32 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: and received it on November twenty four of the following year. 33 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: By that point, there were dozens of barbed wire designs 34 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: on the market, but Glidden's easily stood out from the crowd. 35 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: It quickly became the most commercially successful of all the designs, 36 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: known across the West as Winner Wire. It may not 37 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: have been the first barbed wire, but according to Glidden 38 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: and his satisfied customers, it was the best. The effectiveness 39 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: of Glidden's design was key to its success, but so 40 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: too was his ability to mass produce it. The farmer 41 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: turned inventor had started out manufacturing his wire by hand 42 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: on his farm, but he gradually found a way to 43 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: mechanize the process using machinery and old fashioned horsepower. That 44 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: cemented his product as the one true Winner wire, since 45 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,839 Speaker 1: it could be made faster and in greater quantities than 46 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: anyone else's. Not long after securing his patent, Glidden partnered 47 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: with Isaac Elwood to form the Barb Fence Company of 48 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: Decab to manufacture the product. That first year, they produced 49 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: roughly thirty two miles worth of wire, and American farmers 50 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: recognized its utility right away. One user extolled the many 51 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: virtues of the wire over other kinds of fences, saying, quote, 52 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: it takes no room, exhausts no soil shades, no vegetation, 53 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: is proof against high winds, makes no snow drifts, and 54 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: is both durable and cheap. In eighteen seventy six, Glidden's 55 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: Winner Wire found a valuable partner in Texas salesman John 56 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: Warren Gates, better known as bed a Million Gates. The 57 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: nickname came from a famous demonstration he gave on Alamo 58 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: Plaza in San Antonio after penning up a herd of 59 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: long horn cattle using Glinden's wire, Gates would take bets 60 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: from spectators as to whether the seemingly fragile wire could 61 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: withstand the force of the powerful steers. When it ultimately did, 62 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: Gates would sing the praises of the product, calling it 63 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: quote light as air, stronger than whiskey, and cheap as 64 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: dirt Texas. Sales climbed quickly from that point on, turning 65 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: barbed wire into a permanent part of the region's landscape. 66 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: For better or worse. As time went on, demand for 67 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: Glinden's barbed wire only seemed to grow. Within just six 68 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: years of the product's debut, Glinten's factory increased its annual 69 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:48,039 Speaker 1: output from thirty two miles of wire to two hundred 70 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: and sixty three thousand miles, enough to circle the globe 71 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: nearly ten times. By that point, Glinton had already cashed 72 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,359 Speaker 1: out of the barbed wire business. He'd sold his half 73 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:01,719 Speaker 1: of the venture to a competitor, but made sure to 74 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: retain the right to royalties. As for the company he 75 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: co founded with Elwood, It continued on and was eventually 76 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: incorporated into US Steel, which of course is still around today. 77 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: At this point, you might be wondering what was fueling 78 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: such a ravenous hunger for barbed wire. The easiest answer 79 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: is the Homestead Act of eighteen sixty two, signed into 80 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: law by Abraham Lincoln. The Act declared that any reputable citizen, 81 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: including women and the formerly enslaved, was permitted to claim 82 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:36,719 Speaker 1: up to one hundred and sixty acres of free land 83 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 1: in the country's western territories. The only stipulation was they 84 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: had to build a home there and work the land 85 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: for five years. It was a prospect that proved easier 86 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: said than done the further west people went. By the 87 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: eighteen seventies, westward expansion across the Great Plains had slowed 88 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: to a crawl, as settlers didn't have enough building materials 89 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: to properly fend sind their new property. Native Americans had 90 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,039 Speaker 1: survived in the region just fine for centuries without the 91 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: need for enclosures, and European cowboys who let their herds 92 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: roam free had no need for them either. But for 93 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: settlers looking to build a homestead, fences were a necessity, 94 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: not just to keep their livestock from wandering away, but 95 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: to keep the cowboys free range cattle from destroying their crops. 96 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: The real problem was those settlers had chosen to move 97 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: to a prairie where there were no tall trees to 98 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: build their fences from. They're only options were to have 99 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: the wood they needed delivered to the nearest train station, 100 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 1: a costly prospect, or to find some other building material, 101 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: something much cheaper and more readily available than would Most 102 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 1: settlers chose the latter option and began experimenting with thorn 103 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: hedges and with smooth wire to create barriers around their property. 104 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: When those efforts failed, the best features of both methods 105 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,920 Speaker 1: were combined to create barbed wire, and the rest is history. 106 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: By eighteen ninety, fenced in ranches and farms had all 107 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: but replaced the once unbounded spaces of the American West. 108 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: The Homestead Act had made private ownership of the land permissible, 109 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: and Glidden's barbed wire had made it practical. From there, 110 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: it was only ever a matter of time, and while 111 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: barbed wire was a dream come true for the farmers 112 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 1: and ranchers of the plains, it was a nightmare for 113 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: everyone else who had called the region home to them. 114 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: The invention had made the landscape infinitely more hostile, both 115 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: in appearance and in action. For cowboys, barbed wire was 116 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: a constant threat to their cattle. Countless steer wandered into 117 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: it while grazing and walked away with nasty cuts and infections, 118 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: while thousands of others didn't walk away at all. In 119 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: that way, barbed wire spelled the end of open range 120 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: cattle grazing in the US, but the death of an 121 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: industry was nothing when weighed against the yer's toll on 122 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: Native American families. The homesteaders had used the wire to 123 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: carve up land that had once been the territory of 124 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: numerous tribes. Then two decades later, the DAWs Act forced 125 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: Native Americans onto predetermined patches of land, freeing up the 126 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: rest for the cultivation of white settlers. As a result, 127 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: those tribes grew more and more isolated, cut off from 128 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: much of the land and people that had shaped their 129 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 1: culture for centuries. Glidden had called his product the Winner, 130 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: but the tribes who wound up on the losing side 131 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: of the land grab had a different name for him. 132 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 1: To them, it was the devil's rope. I'm gay Louzier 133 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,200 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 134 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you have a second 135 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: and you're so inclined, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, 136 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:59,319 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show. You can 137 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: also rate review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you 138 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,680 Speaker 1: can get in touch with me directly by writing to 139 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 1: This Day at I heart media dot com. Thanks to 140 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks to you 141 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow for 142 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: another day in history class.