Barbed Wire in Cooke County

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about barbed wire right here in Cooke County. Now, you might not think a length of twisted wire could change the shape of an entire state, but friend, that is exactly what happened. The development of barbed wire fencing had a revolutionary impact, those are the marker's own words, on the economy and the settlement patterns of Texas.

Not a small thing. Not a small thing at all. It starts in Illinois, in 1874, when a man named Joseph Glidden received a patent for his barbed wire.

One patent. One man. And the ripple from that moment rolled all the way down into North Texas.

By 1875, a fellow named Henry B. Sanborn had arrived in this part of the world, working as Glidden's barbed wire salesman. Now think about that job for a second.

You are out here on the Texas frontier, trying to convince ranchers to string wire across land that had never known a fence. That takes nerve, and maybe a good pair of boots. Sanborn made his way to Gainesville, and right here, at this very site, stood a hardware business called Cleaves and Fletcher.

They stocked Glidden's Barbed Wire, along with other Gainesville businesses that came to carry it as demand grew among Texas ranchers. But here is the part that makes this particular corner of Cooke County worth pulling over for. Sanborn's 1875 transaction with Cleaves and Fletcher may represent the earliest sale of two-stranded modern barbed wire in Texas.

May represent. The marker is careful about that word, and so am I. But careful is not the same as small.

The first sale. Right here. And from transactions like that one, the fences went up, the open range began to close, and Texas started becoming something different than it had ever been before.

What the marker says

The development of barbed wire fencing had a revolutionary impact on the economy and settlement pattern in Texas. In 1874, Joseph Glidden of Illinois received a patent for his barbed wire. By 1875, Henry B. Sanborn had come to North Texas as Glidden's barbed wire salesman. Cleaves & Fletcher Hardware, once located at this site, and other Gainesville businesses began to stock Glidden's Barbed Wire as it came into demand by Texas ranchers. Sanborn's 1875 transaction with Cleaves & Fletcher may represent the earliest sale of two-stranded modern barbed wire in Texas. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.