USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Barbed wire was extensively adopted because it proved ideal for western conditions. Vast and undefined prairies and plains yielded to range management, farming, and ultimately, widespread settlement.

Detailed explanation-2: -On October 27, 1873, a De Kalb, Illinois, farmer named Joseph Glidden submits an application to the U.S. Patent Office for his clever new design for a fencing wire with sharp barbs, an invention that will forever change the face of the American West.

Detailed explanation-3: -The use of barbed wire fences meant that cattle could be contained on enclosed ranches, which helped eliminate the open range and the long cattle drives associated with it. Barbed wire also kept new ranchers out, and reduced labor costs, as fewer cowboys were needed to supervise and herd the cattle.

Detailed explanation-4: -Most barbed wire is made from two wires, one central line and one smaller wire that’s wound around the central line at regular intervals. The ends of the smaller wire point outward, creating sharp “barbs” that can deter people or animals wanting to cross over the wires.

Detailed explanation-5: -crazed by thirst.” Native Americans called barbed wire “devil’s rope”, because it ensnared wild buffalo. (Like cattle, they struggled to see the thin wire lines before they were wrapped up in it.) Trapped, they died of hunger or thirst, or succumbed from infection as their barbed wounds festered.