Latest / This Week in the West
This Week in the West: Joseph Glidden and the History of Barbed Wire
🤠This Week in the West
🎙️ Episode 56: Joseph Glidden and the History of Barbed Wire
📢 Episode Summary:
This episode explores the surprising origins and sweeping impact of one of the most transformative inventions in Western history: barbed wire. The story begins in 1873 on a farm near DeKalb, Illinois, where Joseph Glidden searched for a way to keep cows out of his wife Lucinda’s yard. A few wire hairpins in a milk-glass dish sparked an idea that led him to experiment with wire, tinker with tools, and ultimately create a breakthrough design.
Listeners learn how Glidden’s work emerged amid a…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.