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Barbed wire is a fencing material consisting of barbs wrapped around a single strand of wire and held in place by twisting that strand around another. Before the advent of barbed wire cattle in Texas grazed on an open range. Hardy longhorn cattle were best suited to the open range. In 1878, John Warne Gates conducted a famous demonstration of barbed wire in the Military Plaza of San Antonio, Texas. A herd of longhorn cattle was restrained using a barbed wire patented by Joseph F. Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois in 1874. Gates reportedly touted this product as "light as air, stronger than whiskey, and cheap as dirt." Sales grew quickly and barbed wire permanently changed land uses and land values in Texas.
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