| |
Barbed wire
called 'Devil's Rope' for a reasonby
Delbert Trew | |
During
the early 1880s, Jacob and Warren M. Brinkerhoff invented and patented 13 varieties
of a galvanized ribbon barbed wire with saber-type points. Most Panhandle
historians agree this Brinkerhoff ribbon was the most famous barbed wire in Panhandle
history as the XIT Ranch
used some 6,000 miles of the invention to fence their vast grasslands.
Being
a wire collector, I purchased several rolls of Brinkerhoff for various reasons.
The largest group of rolls came from an old-time farmer in the Channing
area whose grandfather had rolled up the wire after purchasing land from the XIT
Land Company when they began offering their best farming acreage for sale.
A
recent construction project here on the Trew Ranch involved fencing a few acres
surrounding a new fishing and camping site. For nostalgic reasons, I had the inspiration
to build a 100-yard stretch of the new fence using the old XIT ribbon wire. It
just might be the only "new " section of fence in the Panhandle
using the old Brinkerhoff wire now older than 100 years.
This turned out
to be a new learning experience for me in spite of a lifetime of working on barbed-wire
fences. Before I finished this section of fence, I determined the Brinkerhoff
wire was alive and working diligently to thwart every move I made. After I finished
the section of fence, I am convinced history should be revised and rewritten.
For example, history states, "Injury to both humans and livestock by vicious barbed
wire suggest this invention is the work of the devil. Hence the nickname given
to early barbed wire was the Devil's Rope."
After working with Brinkerhoff
ribbon wire, I believe the quote was misstated. The statement should read, "This
#*+@**##XX blankety-blank abomination is the revenge of progress and any landowner
who buys it should go straight to the devil."
I found it is next to impossible
to roll or unroll Brinkerhoff as every saber tooth entangles with the next barb
along every foot of length. The points are sharp and the wire stiff enough to
twist and turn striking like a rattlesnake puncturing the thickest leather gloves.
Since the ribbon is flat and the tensile so strong it makes for difficult splicing.
If bent sharply, the wire breaks. No matter the design of the cutting tool, the
flat ribbon is hard to cut.
Events in Panhandle
history such as the Old
Tascosa Cowboy Strike is now easier to understand as they were probably being
forced to install Brinkerhoff on new ranch fencing. The rules of conduct adopted
by the XIT Ranch preventing
foul language, fights and the consumption of alcoholic spirits were probably the
result of listening to the bunk house conversations after a hard day's work installing
Brinkerhoff ribbon fencing.
There is little doubt the extremely high consumption
of liquor at Old
Tascosa and along the Cimarron Strip saloons during this period could be attributed
to fencing crews working with Brinkerhoff wire. I hereby respectfully suggest
that history be revised and rewritten with the name of the Devil's Rope being
changed to "#*+@**##XX blankety-blank Brinkerhoff Ribbon wire."
© Delbert
Trew
"It's
All Trew" December 30, 2008 Column
E-mail: trewblue@centramedia.net. |
|
|
