Every successful major change in history that survived to called an “era” was prefaced by need, experimentation, turmoil and often tragedy. An excellent example is “The End Of The Open Range Era” signaled by the invention and development of barbed wire fences. Not only did these new barbed barriers cause a drastic change in the way business was conducted, it dictated a monumental change in the life-style and culture of those who lived on the vast prairies of the West.
The first step in the conversion from open range and its nomadic culture to totally enclosed ranges had nothing to do with bared wire. This subtle change came when open range operators established invisible boundaries around chosen public areas and hired cowboys to patrol the boundaries on a daily basis.
The riders were called “line riders,” their crude abodes called “line shacks” and their duties included riding the invisible boundaries on a regular schedule turning away stray livestock not owned by the home ranch and gathering ranch-owned livestock back onto the premises.
At times and during patrols they pulled cattle from bog-holes, chopped ice in winter, hunted predators and joined ranch roundups and branding when needed. The guarding-the-parameters effort was very expensive, effective only in moderate weather, but offered the only alternative to control cattle at the time. The choosing of invisible boundaries by ranch owners became the first step in the evolution from a nomadic open-range culture to a total enclosed permanent culture.
The second step involved limited use of barbed wire in short sections of fence often hidden in the huge grasslands of the mid-west. Observance by line riders of certain trails and byways, often enhanced by natural terrain where livestock repeatedly drifted off traditional ranges, became the first areas receiving the barbed wire barriers.
These structures were considered cost effective as they eliminated much of the line rider’s work thus requiring less employees. By 1882, many such short sections of barbed wire fence were used by larger ranches. Since these fences were not connected together and were limited in length they were little noticed and offered little inconvenience to travelers.
Newcomers arrived on the Plains almost daily adding their herds to those already in place. Winter storms caused uncontrolled livestock to drift into the protected areas of rivers and creeks where they quickly depleted the coveted winter-graze of the ranchers. Numerous tactics were tried to prevent this loss but none were successful.
Cattlemen met in Mobeetie, Texas organizing the Panhandle Stock Association of Texas with Charles Goodnight as president. The first known mention of the term “drift fence” came out of this meeting. Eventually a barbed wire fence was built across the Texas Panhandle following a route north of the Canadian River breaks. The fence started near Higgins, Texas on the east and ended in New Mexico Territory. In places sections of the fence did not join, but to the west the barrier was continuous.
Tragedy gathered on the horizon in 1885 as over-grazing and over-stocking denuded the grasslands. Summer drought and prairie fires occurred and the final blow came as livestock prices plummeted encouraging many owners to forego normal fall sales of cattle.
Tragedy unfolded in the winter of 1886-1887 as extreme cold winter weather struck the region. The high north winds driving snow and sleet offered no opportunity for owners to tend their drifting livestock. Snow covered all graze for weeks at a time. The extent of the tragedy was unprecedented.
The total livestock losses will never be known. Honest ranchers presented actual losses. The dishonest ranchers and unscrupulous ranch managers used the tragedy to make up for mysterious losses caused by theft and mismanagement.
This and other weather-related disasters during a short period of time sealed the fate of drift fences as history placed much of the blame for livestock losses on these barriers blocking the southern drift of cattle. No doubt drift fences caused some losses, but respected observers and agents of the industry found death all over the plains in every canyon, arroyo, behind every hill or ridge and in every valley. Arrogance and greed plus ignoring common sense practices compounded the tragedy. Drift fences had little part in these losses.
Though few ranchers would admit their losses were their own fault, they learned a lesson and changed their ways of operating. Within a few short years, the ranges were properly fenced, winter graze protected and hay stored for emergency use.
Today, drift fences are merely another Old West icon, to be studied and researched adding that information to the volumes of lore and legend already published.
