28 W o r c e s t e r 3 0 0 : C i t y o f I n n o v a t o r s
1822-1921
A
t a critical juncture in U.S.
history, Washburn & Moen,
the largest maker of barbed
wire in the country, had the
right product at the right
time.
Aer the Civil War, as the
nation's energies turned toward the western frontier,
barbed wire shaped settlement patterns, making
possible large-scale livestock businesses. e Cattle
Raisers Museum near Fort Worth celebrates and
illuminates this process. "Barbed wire changed
the whole landscape," said Sherry Flow, museum
director. "It ended the cattle drives because you
would have to drive your cattle long distances to
get around the areas it enclosed." What's more, if
you had land you could enclose with barbed wire,
Washburn's barbed wire is in
demand across the globe
How Worcester won
the West
"it made it possible
to operate much
larger ranches with
less concern about
cattle straying."
Indeed, the changes
barbed wire
produced ended
up turning Fort
Worth into a cow
town because the
railroad connection
there became the
best way to get
cattle to market, not
long-distance cattle
drives.
While Washburn didn't invent barbed wire, the
skills his company possessed at drawing wire and
successful large-scale manufacturing gave him the
background needed to mass produce the spikes
variation.
Washburn had begun as a journeyman
blacksmith and worked with his future first
Washburn & Moen wire works
Ichabod Washburn
(1798-1868)
Barbed wire
made it psible
to operate much
larger ranches
with less concern
about cattle
straying. While
Washburn didn't
invent barbed
wire, the skills his
company psessed
at drawing wire
and successl
large-scale
manufacturing
gave him the
background needed
to mass produce the
spikes variation.
Image | Worcester Historical Museum
Image
|
Worcester
Historical
Museum
