Fence-Cutting War

The Handbook of Texas says much of the cutting was done at night by armed bands calling themselves Owls, Javelinas or Blue Devils, who often left warnings against rebuilding. Some fencers' pastures were burned, and at least three men died in clashes between cutters and ranchmen. At Henrietta, spokesmen for the cutters and Clay County ranchmen agreed to clear fences from public roads, add gates for farmers and end the cutting. By the fall of 1883 the damage across Texas was put at $20 million, and the Fort Worth Gazette said tax valuations had fallen $30 million.

What the plaque says

This area was a center of hostilities during 1880's conflict between landless cattlemen trying to keep use of free grass and open range and those erecting barbed wire fences to create permanent ranches. On L.B. Harris Ranch (3 miles west of here) posts and wire worth $6,000 were burned by anti-fence group during crisis. War was brought on by severe drought in 1880's when men without land found best waterholes fenced in. Many ranchmen owned or leased land they fenced, but some overambitious ones enclosed public lands, farms, and small ranches belonging to homesteaders recently arrived in Texas. Widespread resentment prevailed against these fencers, who, by blocking a road, had little regard for convenience of travelers. When drought pushed landless cowmen to brink of financial ruin, violence was inevitable. They blamed barbed wire fences for their predicament. At first, cutting of fences that blocked roads or waterholes occurred, but soon all fences were threatened. Armed "Nippers" cut fences in almost every Texas county. Fence cutters were then viewed as outlaws rather than crusaders. When laws were passed in Gov. John Ireland's administration to stop the war, Texas had suffered much damage to its property and reputation. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Chadbourne — 17 mi
  An 1852 infantry post and Butterfield stage station on a Coke County ranch, its fallen stone buildings rebuilt since 1999 by the descendant of the family that has ranched the land since 1877.

More markers nearby

• Richard Coke — steps away
• Robert Lee Cemetery — 0.7 mi
• Locklin Bartholomew Murray — 0.8 mi
• Coke County — 2.2 mi