Fencing Frontiers:  The Barbed Wire Story

For centuries, American ranchers and farmers have sought to control their property by marking boundaries and enclosing land. Early landowners used a variety of tactics to fence their property, but often struggled to acquire sufficient raw materials and provide ongoing maintenance.

In New England, farms were quite modest in size, with pastures often enclosed by walls made from stones which were gathered as fields were cleared. Rail fences, made from trees split lengthwise, were used in some areas of the South and Midwest.

As American pioneers moved West in the nineteenth century, the issue of fencing went with them. The Western plains were largely treeless, limiting the raw materials available for wood or rail fences. In addition, Western farms and ranches were far larger than farms in the East, with correspondingly greater areas to be fenced. A fencing crisis soon gripped the U.S.

By 1860, farm fences were worth a total of $1,350,000,000, at a time when the value of all American farms was about $6,645,000,000. Thus, without a cheap source of wood, a fence could cost more than the land it enclosed. Something had to be done.

The solution to this problem was wire.

The exhibit is located on the second floor of the Patience Ellwood Towle Visitor Center in the Brauer Gallery.