In 1876 salesman John W. Gates brought barbed wire to Texas when he wagered $1 million that he could build a fence that would capably contain cattle. Some incredulous gambler took the bet. Gates ...

Behold the humble barbed-wire fence, the five-strand sentinel of Texas woods and plains. Untold thousands of miles of barbed-wire fence divide the state, so ubiquitous outside the city centers that ...

One day as I was driving from my home near Kraemer Lake, I noticed a small herd of cattle in a pasture fenced with barbed wire. It brought back memories. Wire had been a much-used commodity on our ...

At the height of Manifest Destiny, when the United States was pushing into the West, the frontiersmen of the late 1800s needed a cheap way to contain livestock and keep grazing animals out of farm ...

Visitors to Fort McCoy are used to the sight of barbed wire. It sits atop the fences surrounding the cantonment area and other areas around the installation. It is used during training exercises today ...

Before Ma Bell came to town, and long before DSL, it was barbed wire, of all things, that brought rural communities together. A Sears telephone hooked up to barbed wire—miles of which were already ...

In the mid 1800s, not many (non-native) Americans had ever been west of the Mississippi. When Frederick Law Olmstead visited the west in the 1850s, he remarked that the plains looked like a sea of ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. There are more than 700 steel knots in The “Bobbed Wire” Bible ...