The Invention of Barbed Wire

1. The Invention of Barbed Wire

2. Joseph Glidden invented barbed wire.

3. Once the ranges were fenced, many cowboys were out of work. Cattle no longer endlessly wandered on the open range. The Wild West shows gave them a place to show their skills and pick up some pay. Soon rodeos or cowboy contests became part of Western county fairs. Contestants traveled from one competition to another. Some cowboys became rodeo stars, and, later, movie stars. Today rodeo cowboys are professional athletes who compete for a living.

4. Barbed Wire Fence

5. Due to the incredible mileage traversed on these drives, the opportunity for disease, and the resistance of nature, cattle reaching their destination after a cattle drive were not in a superior condition. Fencing led ranchers to abandon the cattle drive for railroads, and thus "instead of marketing the cattle by "a long, weary drive" they could, with pastures, be held off the market and fattened and only part of the herd shipped off at a time"(Hayter 11).

6. BarbedWireFences: Acting as an effective barrier, it reduced losses of cattle due to straying or theft. Furthermore, it ended the need for branding, which was claimed to reduce the value of a cow by as much as two dollars.

7. Stop and Think Why were many cowboys not needed and many of them turned to making money by entering contests at the rodeo? What invention contributed to cowboys not being needed on the cattle drives?

8. Barbed Wire!