Barbed Wire

The wire Gates sold had a short and tangled history. Joseph F. Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois, was granted a patent on November 24, 1874, for barbs twisted onto two strands, a design called the "Winner" that outsold hundreds of rivals. Before it, Texans fenced with ditches, mud walls and hedges of bois d'arc, said to be "pig tight, horse high, and bull strong." Henry B. Sanborn sold the first barbed wire in Texas in 1875. Gates reportedly called the product "light as air, stronger than whiskey, and cheap as dirt." Enclosure brought the fence-cutting conflicts of the early 1880s.

What the plaque says

Barbed Wire At first called "Devil's Rope" by cowboys, barbed wire was patented in 1873 but found little favor with Texas cattlemen until the late 1870s, when its use and practicality were shown in a sensational demonstration here in San Antonio. Its showman-sponsor was John Ware Gates (1855-1911), who came here as agent for a pioneer wire manufacturer. With permission from city officials, he built a barbed wire corral on the Military Plaza, then went into various resorts of cattlemen and boasted of its strength and economy. Some of the ranchers made bets that the wire would not hold wild cattle. While the scoffers looked on, some longhorns where turned into the corral and prodded to frenzy by burning torches. They charged the fence furiously, but the wire held. The experiment was such a success that for a long time orders exceeded the supply of barbed wire. In later life known as "bet-a-million" Gates, the agent founded or organized several wire and steel plants. About 1901 he also invested in Spindletop oil field and helped develop the city of Port Arthur, Texas. With its sister utility, the windmill, barbed wire led to upgrading of beef cattle and enhancement of nutrition and the quality of human life. (1971)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spanish Governor's Palace — steps away
  The last visible piece of the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar: a presidio captain's house with a 1749 keystone, a century as shops and saloons, and a romantic 1930 restoration.
• San Fernando Cathedral — steps away
  The Canary Islanders' parish church on Main Plaza, where Bowie married and Santa Anna raised a red flag, rebuilt in Gothic Revival around the walls of the 1750s church.
• Casa Navarro State Historic Site — steps away
  The adobe and caliche-block home of José Antonio Navarro, a native-born signer of the 1836 declaration, and the last remnant of the Tejano neighborhood called Laredito.
• San Antonio River Walk — 0.4 mi
  A Depression-era park one level below downtown, built because San Antonio refused to pave its river after the 1921 flood, and designed by an architect the project later fired.

More markers nearby

• Bexar County under Nine Governments — steps away
• Plaza De Armas (Military Plaza) — steps away
• Moses Austin — steps away
• Zero Milestone, Old Spanish Trail — steps away