Barbed wire and an oppressive drought led to the outbreak of the Fence Cutting Wars in the American West.
The Fence Cutting Wars of the American West put ranchers in one of two categories: those who used barbed wire and those who did not. The invention of barbed wire fencing gave farmers and ranchers a way to protect property, crops, and animals. But for those who depended on the open range with free access to pasture, trails, and water, barbed wire threatened a long-established way of life. By the early 1880s, cattle barons began fencing off lands, including public lands. Farmers and small ranchers retaliated by cutting the fences, allowing their herds access and that’s what ignited the Fence Cutting Wars. The conflict spread across parts of Wyoming, New Mexico, and was especially heated in Texas, when a hard drought hit the region. The Fence Cutting Wars crossed social, economic, and racial boundaries with poorer farmers and ranchers taking on big cattle barons; Hispanic ranchers and cowboys battled Anglos. By the 1890s, the wars had ebbed, the open range a memory.
