Category: Spirit of the West Band

Howdy Y’All !!!

Creativity abounds in this month’s newsletter. It can cause a big wave, or it can make a little ripple. In any case, the act of bringing something into existence makes a difference, in a few people, an entire country or even can affect folks worldwide. Gena LaCoste’s early painting and drawings brought joy to her family, whereas folks from much further afield are presently reveling in her images of the West. The internet is world wide, so her blog and insightful commentaries connect folks to our part of the country.

Sometimes it’s the search for the solution to a problem that spurs innovation, as was the case with barbed wire. An invention may stay in your own backyard making life easier with a gate latch Ol’ Nellie can’t open or a fence that’ll keep the milk cows out of the garden. The neighbors were the first to benefit from the initial barbed wire invention, but it wasn’t long before the entire continent was using it. The barbed wire story is a perfect example of how a so-called invention often “piggy-backs” off someone else’s new idea. (The same holds true for many poems and songs.) Barbed wire was continually adapted to fit the needs presented, even in war.

We’re thankful for museums that incorporate novel ways of keeping history alive. Even the barbwire buffalo symbolizes the past. Creative inventions (especially since the internet) have a way of connecting us to each other, our continent and the world through the stories and images (past and present) about our part of the country.

Western Music and Cowboy Poetry Event — You Don’t Want to Miss it!

Western Music, Storytelling and Cowboy Poetry
-it’s on Friday, September 26th and again on September 27th
-it’s two days with 15 afternoon performers

-it’s Hugh McClennan (and his Spirit of the West Band) on Saturday Night, highly acclaimed as giving a top notch performance.

Hugh is a working cowboy from the Kamloops area who does it all: he tells stories, sings, writes poetry & has been a radio broadcaster for over 30 years:

Dee Butterfield Video Launch

-was on Friday, April 18th at Ponoka
-was at the Calnash Ag Event Centre, Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame Museum
-was hosted by the Canadian Professional Rodeo Hall of Fame Board

At the evening event, folks from near and far were in attendance to honor the hometown celebrity, Dee Butterfield. Chance, the MC, summarized the many accomplishments of his mom: as a fierce competitor, as a passionate horsewoman and as a dedicated teacher. “Some of you have been mentored by her, ridden beside her and/or benefitted from the doors she worked so hard to open for others in the sport of rodeo.” The audience has suggested that MHCP promote this documentary through other media, therefore the Producer and Director will be looking at this.

The museum was open for folks to meander around the peeled-log, glass-enclosed cases displaying bronze/trophy awards and interesting paraphernalia belonging to Hall of Famers. Additionally, the walls are lined with their photos, painted rodeo murals grace aloft wall surfaces, there are rows of trophy saddles on a rail and dotting the area are interesting items like a well-worn barrel once used by a rodeo clown/bull fighter. Since 1981 they’ve honored outstanding rodeo athletes: men, horses, rodeo stock and women (15 women inducted so far).

We said it in last month’s edition of Keeping You In The Loop but we’ll say it again: this project was made possible by the talent and grit of some amazing volunteers (Eda Lishman and Nives Lever of Fetecine Filosophy, Don Kletcke, Cheryl Dust to name just a few), funding from the Alberta Heritage Grant. And of course, special thanks to Dee and her family!

Homegrown Tribute

Hatching Ducks,

An upcoming story.

The Invention of Barbed Wire

Pioneer farmers on the plains needed to protect their crops. Wooden rail and stone fences were tried but materials were too scarce, too expensive and/or too laborious to construct.

Necessity Breeds Invention. DeKalb, Illinois,1873

Michael Kelly
In 1863 he developed a type of fence with points affixed to twisted strands of wire. Had it been promoted, he would have been hailed the Father of Barbed Wire. It was 10 years later that another inventor filed a patent.

Henry Rose
He was a farmer with a breachy cow, so he made a curious contraption to control her. He entered a sample in the local fair: a wooden rail (to attach to an existing rail) with short wire points to “prick’ an animal when it came in contact. It would not have been noteworthy except that three men who attended the fair that day would piggy-back on his idea, Joseph Glidden, Isaac Ellwood and Jacob Haish. They would attach the prongs onto a wire.

Joseph Glidden
He was a farmer (and a banker, businessman and served as Sheriff). Like many farmers, he needed a barricade to keep out stray animals. He applied barbs to the smooth fence wire that was commonly used at the time. But the twisted wire pieces gradually slid so he used the kitchen coffee grinder to crimp the barbs so they’d stay in place. Then with the use of an old grindstone, he wrapped a second wire around the first. He tested it around his barnyard and his wife, Lucinda’s garden. Neighboring farmers stopped by to see and soon Glidden was producing and selling barbed wire.

Isaac Ellwood
He was a hardware merchant whose customers were farmers that needed improved fencing. He also tinkered with the use of barbs and fencing, but had no success. He heard about Glidden’s fence. The story goes that Ellwood and his wife took a buggy ride to Glidden’s farm one Sunday afternoon. When Ellwood’s wife saw the invention, she commented how Glidden’s invention was far superior to anything her husband had created. Ellwood was apparently enraged, but only one day later he came back, and the two men went into business together forming the Barb Fence Company.

Jacob Haish
As a lumber businessman, he knew firsthand from his customers about the need for suitable fencing material. He developed a barbed wire similar to Glidden’s, but upon seeing Glidden’s fence, he realized the inferiority of his own. Haish improved his own fencing invention and applied for a patent, even though Glidden had already done so in 1873. Thus began a patent battle in the U.S. Supreme Court during the 1870’s and 1880’s.

Barbed Wire Creates Controversy

The plain wire companies down east took notice of this new invention. The Washburn and Moen Company of Massachusetts travelled to DeKalb where both Haish and the Barb Fence Company were doing a brisk business. They failed to negotiate with Haish, but in 1876 Glidden with the Barbed Fence Company was eager to sell (and receive royalties), while Ellwood was eager to incorporate. The Ellwood, Washburn and Moen company bought the rights to many of the existing patents and had a near monopoly of the barbed wire market.

There were competitors who challenged its dominance. The simplicity of the barbed wire had “moonshiners” operating all over the countryside without a license or patent. In 1880 Jacob Haish’s famous ‘S’ Barb was judged to be an infringement on patents, as were all other illegal producers by 1892. The Washburn & Moen and Ellwood Co. possessed a monopoly on the barbed wire industry.

Texans were generally skeptical about fencing for their wild Longhorn cattle. Plus they feared the seemingly cruel nature of the contraption. John Gates developed the idea of demonstrations to sell their product. The story goes that a rancher claimed that Ol’ Jim, a neighbor’s bull, could go through anything. He reckoned that bull would not stop for barbed wire. Gates attempted to prove him wrong. He also built a barb wire enclosure in downtown San Antonio to demonstrate how it could hold in the wildest Longhorns. Whether he was successful must be questioned, but his advertising skills certainly promoted the sales of barbed wire as it spread through the West.

There was also conflict and controversy between the cowmen and the so called “nesters”. The ranchers had nowhere left to “free graze” or to herd their cattle on long cattle drives. At first the cattlemen cut the ‘Devil’s rope’ to make a path across private property for the herd, sparking the infamous era of the “range wars”. But by the early 1900’s, ranching had changed and ranchers were themselves using barbed wire to contain their cattle.

Note: In actuality, before 1873, many similar inventions existed in the U.S. and in other countries. Alternate sources also state that numerous inventors received patents for their variations on the basic barb wire design. Between 1868 and 1874 the U.S. government issued over 500 patents.

Source: McCallum, Henry & Francis, The Wire that Fenced the West, (University of Oklahoma Press ), 1965
The author, an oil geologist, wrote the book because collecting barbed wire was his hobby. When he was inspecting in the field, he noticed a variety of barbs on the fences. From taking samples home, his collection grew to more than a hundred different kinds.

Barb Wire Museum

The Kansas Museum at LaCrosse serves to preserve barbed wire history. It displays the varieties of barbed wire as well as tools and equipment once used in fencing. There are 530 patents for barbed wire and 2500 types of barbed wire including the homemade and bootlegged ones (those unlawfully produced). Other displays include a collection of liniments in bottles and tins to cure cuts and injuries to man or beast from barbed wire. Showmen would have travelled around the countryside selling these. One exhibit is the original piece of Henry Rose’s Wooden Rail. Visitors can watch the making of barbed wire using a coffee mill, a grindstone and farmer ingenuity (Joseph Glidden’s). Activities include a Barbed Wire Splicing Contest -who can do the tightest splice in the shortest time. It doesn’t matter how it looks as long as it will support a 75 lb. weight. There are also dioramas, educational films and there’s a research library.

Originally barbed wire was a means of keeping animals apart, now it brings people together with their once a year show in early May. (Other states also have such shows.) That’s where wire collectors can share information, add to their collection, keep in contact and of course, display their personal collections The specifications for collectors is a barbed wire 18” long, with barbs evenly spaced from each end and no broken or missing barbs. Beginners can pay a few cents to a few dollars for a sample and starter sets are under $25. Less common samples can be much more costly.

Railroads and Barbed Wire
Like in Canada, Governments in the U.S. also granted railroads massive amounts of land. These right-of-ways ran across land previously reserved for grazing livestock. Legal disputes often arose when livestock was injured or killed. As well it caused equipment damage and risked passenger safety. So it was that railroad crews erected hundreds of miles of barbed wire along their tracks.

This didn’t totally solve the problem though. More than a few dishonest farmers or ranchers must have removed this wire for their own use because railroad crews couldn’t keep up with repairs. Legend has it that Isaac Ellwood created a unique wire exclusively for railroad use -one or more square strands woven among one or more traditional ones. Thus wire unlawfully acquired could be detected. That’s how The Barb Fence Company became suppliers for railroad fencing.

Barbed Wire Goes to War
Although barbed wire was initially invented as a deterrent for livestock, it was quickly modified for use against humans during the first World War. Rolls of concertina wire were stretched like a spring over miles of hillsides and ravines. Anyone who tried to cross over, under or through was inflicted with painful wounds. The strength and elasticity of the twisted wire would hopelessly entangle vehicles and equipment.

Source: www.RushCounty.org/BarbedWireMuseum

Upcoming: History of the Gang Ranch

Located in Williams Lake area of British Columbia, Gang Ranch was once the biggest ranch on the continent, even bigger than the King Ranch in Texas. It has a storied history which includes having been owned and managed by an entire family, who each abandoned their thriving businesses in Alberta and Saskatchewan to live and work on this remote ranch.

Fenced pastures on the Gang Ranch are not needed. They make use of natural boundaries such as deep canyons and rivers to keep the cattle on ranch property.

Barbed Wire Buffalo

This statue is located in Wallace, Kansas where “Do not climb” signs are unnecessary. There IS a sign made of wire that says: “Don’t Fence Me In”

Post Turtle

With the air thick with election news and political views, it’s only right to get a cowboy’s take on it all. The gist of the story is from a joke I was given.

A doctor was a-stitching the rough-looking hand
Of a guy with a dirty battered hat,
The gashes were a bull-rider's work-related wounds.
To distract his patient, Doc proceeds to chat.

The role of our leaders was a topic they discussed,
The cowboy said, “From my point of view”
They are just post turtles, they are nothing more,
What that is? Well, I'm a-tellin' you.

When you're in the country driving down a dusty road
And you come across a fence and corner post
With a turtle that is trying hard to balance on the top,
That's describes a politician most.

You know it's not for him to get there all by himself,
He really don't belong a-way up there,
'Cause how can he accomplish all his lofty-minded goals,
Not grounded and his nose is in the air.

Then don't it make you wonder how he got there on that post,
Who the heck the stupid mortals was,
Makes one hope the politician that we voted for
Is down-to-earth and works for our cause.

-composed by Jen Zollner

Before you mosey on down the trail, take a moment to enjoy one more sample of the outstanding cowboy poetry from our September event headliner, Hugh McLennan.

Western Wisdom

If there’s a hole in your story or your fence, something you rather did not get out, will.
A horse ain’t being polite when he comes to a fence and lets you go over first

Happy Trails,
Jen