Joseph Glidden (1813-1906)
Joseph Glidden invented the first commercially successful barbed wire, patented in 1874. He was co-founder of the Barb Fence Company of De Kalb, Illinois, which marketed the wire. Farmers and settlers used it to protect water supplies, crops, and livestock from free-range cattle.
Additional Information Can Be Found At...
Glidden's Patent for Barbed Wire
PBS - THE WEST - Joseph Glidden
Barbed Wire, Kansas State Historical Society