Joseph Glidden, an Illinois farmer, invented barbed wire in the 1870s, making large-scale fencing inexpensive and easy. This led to the closing of the open range as ranchers began fencing off their land, ending the era of free-roaming cattle. However, the introduction of barbed wire also caused conflicts known as range wars between small landowners and ranchers over blocked roads and fences surrounding water sources. State legislatures eventually passed laws against fence cutting and requiring gates to be placed along fences. The closing of the open range transformed cattle ranching and marked the end of an important period in the history of the American West.

1. Chapter 21: The Cattle Kingdom
Section 4: The Closing of the Open Range

2. Fencing the Open Range
• Problems:
– Farmers wanted to keep stray cattle
out of crops
– Little wood on plains to build fences
– Illinois woman asks husband to create
a fence to keep dogs out of garden

3. Barbed Wire

4. Fencing the Open Range
• Joseph F.
Glidden—
Illinois
farmer who
invented
barbed wire
Joseph Glidden

9. Fencing the Open Range
• Glidden opened a factory to
produce wire
• “Light as air…cheap as dirt”
• Made large scale fencing
easy & inexpensive

10. Fencing the Open Range
• The cattle kingdom
began to disappear
after fences started to
enclose the open range

11. The Range Wars
• Barbed wire presented problems:
– Small property owners
surrounded
– Public roads blocked off & mail
delivery disrupted
– Water sources fenced off

12. The Range Wars
• Range War—armed
conflict over fencing and
sheep that erupted during
the 1880s

13. The Range Wars
• Fence cutting becomes a major issue
• 1884: Gov. John Ireland calls an
emergency session of the legislature:
– Fence cutting illegal
– Gates every three miles
– Illegal to fence land you do not own

14. The Range Wars
• In parts of
Texas that
were too
rugged and
dry for cattle,
some ranchers
turned to
sheep herding.

16. Legacy of the Open
Range
• Death of the Open Range:
– Barbed wire and fencing of open
range
– Extension of rail lines &
refrigerated railcars
– Overgrazing of land

17. Legacy of the Open
Range
• Death of the open range:
– Introduction of windmills &
expansion of farming onto the
Plains
– Expansion of sheep ranching
• Cattle ranching an important
part of Texas’ legacy & economy