On this day in 1874, Joseph Glidden received a patent for barbed wire.
Glidden, an American farmer, developed a refined technique for making barbed wire using a coffee mill to sharpen the barbs. He demonstrated its usefulness in keeping cattle with a herd of 12,000 cattle in Potter County, Texas.
Soon after he received the patent, there was some debate over whether Glidden had indeed invented the technique of creating barbs and twisting wire around them to keep them in place. (Lucien B. Smith of Ohio had received a patent for an earlier type of barbed wire in 1867.) Glidden fought a legal battle over the right to the invention, but did eventually win, and became very wealthy with the profits from his Barb Fence Company, which was headquartered in Illinois.
Barbed wire changed the face of American ranching, as it was the most effective way for even inexperienced builders to create fences that would hold cattle.
