The Wire that Fenced the West

The Wire that Fenced the West is a book written by Henry D. and Frances T. McCallum and published in 1965 by the University of Oklahoma Press.

The Wire that Fenced the West

Front cover of The Wire that Fenced the West, 1965 edition.
Author	Henry D. McCallum and Frances T. McCallum
Language	English
Subject	History and the development of barbed wire and the inventors
Publisher	University of Oklahoma Press
Publication date	1965
Publication place	United States
Pages	285
ISBN	0806106514

The book covers the history of the development of barbed wire and the inventors. It also include chapters of how it was marketed and the history of its use in the American West. It includes an illustrated identification guide showing the various brands, styles, and patents.^[1]

About the authors

Henry D. McCallum and his wife Frances T. McCallum wrote the book based on the hobby of Henry D. McCallum. McCallum started his collection when he was an oil geologist. When he would inspect in fields, he would notice the fences and recognize the variety of fence styles. He took home a sample and from there his collection grew to a massive size with more than a hundred different kinds of barbed wire.^[2]

Chapters

I. Barbed-Wire Fence-Makers

1. Threshold of Promise

2. Prelude to 1874

3. Incident at De Kalb

4. "Prior-Use" Fences

5. Promoting Barbed Wire

6. Moonshine and Monopoly

7. Patent Litigation

8. Barbed-Wire Barons

II. Barbed-Wire Fence-Builders

9. "This Cockeyed World of Cattle Fold"

10. "The Big Die-up"

11. "King of the Coasters" and Brother Jon

12. "Startin' in to Play H--- with Texas"

13. "Improvements" on the Public Domain

14. "Trail to Rail"

15. "Alambre! Alambre! Alambre!"

16. A Nineteenth-Century Allegory

III. Types of Barbed Wire

17. Modern Trends

18. Classification

19. Identification

Reception

The book is one of a narrative monologue that is accredited with exceptional writing and regarded as an excellent reading.^[3] Some historians find that the work is not reliable for a reading of exact history. This is due to the secondary sources the author uses instead of any primary sources, and it is mentioned that those used are insufficient.^[4] Some critiques of the book find that McCallum used some credible sources such as court records, manuscript records of wire companies, family papers, and memoirs of leading figures of the field.^[5] The book lacks key elements of discussion such as enclosure practices and fencing laws,^[6] as well as economic and social responses and results to the barbed wire. Another issue a critic had was the lack of talk between barbed wire fences and the railroad industry.^[7]

Editions

• Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965. LC: 65-11234.

References

1. Hayter, Earl W. (March 1, 1966). "The Wire That Fenced the West. By Henry D. and Frances T. McCallum". Journal of American History. 52 (4): 841–842. doi:10.2307/1894377. JSTOR 1894377.
2. McCallum, Henry (1965). The Wire That Fenced The West. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. vii.
3. Martin, S. Clark; McCallum, Henry D.; McCallum, Frances T. (September 1965). "The Wire That Fenced the West". Journal of Range Management. 18 (5): 289. doi:10.2307/3895504. JSTOR 3895504.
4. Hayter, Earl W.; McCallum, Henry D.; McCallum, Frances T. (March 1966). "The Wire That Fenced the West". The Journal of American History. 52 (4): 841. doi:10.2307/1894377. JSTOR 1894377.
5. Long, John Sherman (November 1965). "The Wire That Fenced the West Henry D. McCallum Frances T. McCallum". Pacific Historical Review. 34 (4): 477–478. doi:10.2307/3636363. JSTOR 3636363.
6. Bogue, Allan G.; Frances T. and Henry D. McCallum. (January 1966). "The Wire That Fenced the West". The American Historical Review. 71 (2): 707. doi:10.2307/1846553. JSTOR 1846553.
7. Gates, Paul W. (1966). "Review of The Wire that Fenced the West". The Journal of Economic History. 26 (2): 263–264. doi:10.1017/S0022050700068832. ISSN 0022-0507. JSTOR 2116245. S2CID 154690602.