The Man Who May Have Tamed The West

Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett, and even Judge Roy Bean all had roles to play in America's expansion West. These famous lawmen brought a sense of justice to territories that were in states of chaos. But did they really "tame" the West? These lawmen provided the material for exciting stories, factual and otherwise, but in terms of taking control of their environment, for the average settler a man named Joseph Glidden may be the one that most deserves the title "The Man That Tamed The West."

Joseph Glidden looks like a Gilded Age millionaire in the image above, but he did not start out that way. A former teacher, widower, and recent migrant to Illinois, Glidden tried to rebuild his life by remarrying, farming and starting a family. He always dreamed, like so many Americans, of making it "big." Farming was not his pot of gold but something he invented for farmers was--barbed wire.

It's not clear exactly when Glidden figured out that a sort piece of sharp pointed wire could be wrapped around a longer piece at intervals along its length and then held in place by another long wire twisted around the whole strain. But his "barbed wire fencing" was officially patented in 1874. Although Glidden's invention was used everywhere, it had a profound effect upon settlement west of the Mississippi River.

While settlers faced numerous challenges in civilizing the Great Plains, one of the key ones was a lack of wood for fencing. Farmers needed to keep grazing livestock out of their fields to maximize crop yields, and this was tough to do without a supply of lumber. Barbed wire allowed livestock proof fences to be built with lumber only being needed as fence posts. While it's no fun getting caught up and pricked by modern barbed wire (I have snagged and destroyed a few pair of pants and have the leg abrasions to prove it) the original Glidden wire had long barbs that could penetrate deeply into the body of an unfortunate cow. Cattlemen started losing significant numbers from their herd. So barbed wire was an unintended but contributing factor to the famous "range wars."

Regardless of its role in these conflicts between farmers and grazers, Glidden's invention became an important and affordable tool for farmers. Glidden started a company after the patent was issued and in a few years he was a rich man. He became richer when he sold his patent for $60,000 and royalties. He invested his profits wisely and by the time of his death in 1906 owned 250,000 acres in Texas, a hotel, a bank, and a newspaper. So in the long run he became a rich Gilded Age entrepreneur. Like Andrew Carnegie, Glidden was a philanthropist donating money to various causes including donating 63 acres to build a school in Illinois which is today Northern Illinois University.

The story does not end. Eight years after his death World War One began. Soon the war bogged down into a four year stalemate and became a war of trench systems. Barbed wire proved to be an excellent weapon in slowing attacks on both sides, allowing the killing power of the machine gun and artillery to be brought to bear. Barbed wire was resilient against pre-attack bombardments and was highly desired. Like so many inventions during peacetime, Glidden's barbed wire was adapted to a war situation with very deadly results.

 

 

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