War of the Wire

On most days of my life, unless on one of those days, my life dictates otherwise, I take long walks around the pasture here on the farm. I often find myself walking the same trail, it's one that I have tread myself over time. This path smoothly runs along a barbed wire fence line. Time and again on these walks I have often mused about days long past. Idly walking I've reminisced about when I had taken similar walks or long horseback rides through the countryside. These past outings usually ended up coming up alongside some obscure pasture that is lined with barbed wire, much like the one I walk here at Coteau Valley Farm. There are miles and endless miles of these wire fences throughout the countryside which have been put into place to keep some out and others safely inside. I always liked how barbed wire looked with its tight twists and turns and its red-orange, rusted look. I especially enjoyed and still enjoy, when I would find a long line of fence that is especially well juxtaposed with a clear blue sky in the background. It seems like the quintessential reminder of the country, which I love. I realize barbed wire can be dangerous, especially to horses and other livestock so I don't take it lightly. Even so, I would dare say we all kind of look at barbed wire and align it to the American Cowboy, or the Old West. Rationally thinking I hardly doubt the two are friends. The barbed wire was probably a watershed moment in North America that ended the cowboys, "open rein, or long reign," whichever you prefer to say over the grasslands where the cattlemen's cattle hungerily and happily grazed. In the 1800s when new landowners began putting up barbed wire fences, it was more often than not a good way to pick a fight, whether they meant to or not. The strong message to the cattlemen of the west clearly stated, "This is my land now... keep out!" These tall words were spoken to men who believed they had a right to run their cattle wherever they pleased. In the 1800's a lot of land-hungry cowboys lost their lives due to the barbed wire fence in loud gunshot battles waged over the land that was previously held as open range. I would hardly say the barbed wire fence was a friend to the cattleman. But cattlemen and landowners were not the only ones to use this wire fence and create rifts with their neighbors because of the boundaries created. Barbed wire was no friend to the Native Americans who long ago traveled and hunted wherever they wanted, long before barbed wire was installed. Like a horrible nightmare, this wire suddenly made Native Americans' homes inaccessible to them. Land that American Indians had freely roamed and hunted was now instantly off limits to them, creating a real tragedy to their livelihood. The history of the barbed wire fence is probably pretty unsettling and far from the peaceful image I hold in mind on my menial walks. With or without its tumultuous past it still has use in keeping livestock inside a bordered area, unless, of course, the livestock happen to carry a wirecutter, which I doubt. I happen to know that barbed wire was invented by a man named, Lucien Smith of Kent, Ohio. I am pretty sure that soon after he patented it, mini-civil wars ensued in the mid-1800s. I wonder if Lucien had any inkling of thought, at that time, of the stories barbed wire would have to tell in 200 years. Now I stand thinking about this invention admiring how it looks pretty when there is a nice blue sky behind it. This is a far cry from the long, or not so long ago land wars that barbed wire caused. barbed wire inarguably has value and is not only used for war with the neighbors. I suppose like anything it can be used to do good or to stir up trouble. I think barbed wire is a very clever invention that is definitely by today's standards worthy of a Master's Degree in any college or University. I also still think that it looks nice in an open field or on the range and it also holds lots of cattle securely inside a pasture. However, it has more of a back story than any one of us may imagine as it casually sits nailed to some wood posts in a field, it may seem pretty benign, but it is not benign and its violent past is the material of war. I would venture to say that many people would be surprised to learn the stories barbed wire could tell from the Old West. I think an old Western movie could be made about barbed wire wars and how the wire caused a lot of turmoil and suffering. Let me know what you think!

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