Barbed Wire and the End of the Open Range Podcast

A deceptively simple invention reshaped the Great Plains. In this episode, we explore how barbed wire transformed farming, ended the era of open-range cattle drives and stirred up fierce legal battles and neighbor disputes. From sod fences, osage orange hedgerows to fence-cutting wars and changing property laws, barbed wire marked a turning point in the region’s landscape and way of life. 

We’ll consider the legacy it left behind and how the balance between boundaries and openness continues to affect conservation efforts on the Plains today. 

Want to see more? See photos, maps and more glimpses of prairie life on Instagram: @rootedintheplains 

Want to visit and learn more? Lacrosse, KS has a barbed wire museum that is open from May 1 to Labor Day.  The building contains over 2100 wire varieties and hundreds of antique fencing tools to illustrate the inventiveness of pioneers.  The 1st weekend of May (2025), they hosted the 59th annual barbed wire festival. 

Want to learn more? 

·       Tufford, Wallace. “The Wire That Tamed the West.” (1960) 

·       Hewes, Leslie. “Early Fencing on the Western Margin of the Prairie.” (1981)

·       Hayter, Earl W. “Barbed Wire Fencing: A Prairie Invention: Its Rise and Influence in the Western States.” (1939)

·       Kawashima, Yasuhide. “Farmers, Ranchers, and the Railroad: The Evolution of Fence Law in the Great Plains, 1865-1900.” (2010)

·       Gard, Wayne. “The Fence-Cutters.” (1947)

·       Hornbeck, Richard. “Barbed Wire: Property Rights and Agricultural Development.” (2010)

·       Briggs, Harold E. “The Development and Decline of Open Range Ranching in the Northwest.” (1934)

·       Western, Samuel. “The Wyoming Cattle Boom, 1868-1886.” (2014)