Before barbed wire, there were rock fences (if you had suitable rock on your land) and there were rail fences. In Central Texas, there were specifically cedar rail fences.
Here's an idea of what cedar rails cost to buy in 1852 :
So, that's $0.01 per rail and it takes about 1 rail per linear foot of fence. That's $53.00 per mile just for the materials. For a barbed wire fence, you'd need only about a tenth as many posts.
If you want to index those prices for inflation, in 1852, A.M. Lindsy was charging $10.00 per day for his services as a surveyor.
> If you want to index those prices for inflation, in 1852, A.M. Lindsy was charging $10.00 per day for his services as a surveyor.
looks like some things never change.
Still a few sod fence remnants around here.
Jim
Seems like around there there is a smooth wire (not barbed) which predated the barbed wire.
They were called cowboys and shepherds
No need for a fence if you have diligent guardians.
No trees for posts/rails. Rocks in places, but, far too slow for hundreds of acres.
They were called cowboys and shepherds
> No need for a fence if you have diligent guardians.
>
> No trees for posts/rails. Rocks in places, but, far too slow for hundreds of acres.
Newfoundland has the right idea. Fence in the houses and let the cattle go everywhere else. Of course, they can't stray too far without running into a tangled spruce scrub or the ocean,
> Seems like around there there is a smooth wire (not barbed) which predated the barbed wire.
Yes, there was a short period when smooth wire fencing was in use as pasture fencing. I've seen examples of it from the early 1870's in Central Texas. Barbed wire was so much more effective as a stock fence that it nearly immediately became the fence of choice once it was available.
Fencing after Barbed Wire
"Barbed-wire fences were instrumental in helping to break up the cattle drives from the southern to the northern ranges, and this in turn brought about radical changes in the methods of fattening and transporting livestock. For years the cattlemen had driven their stock over the long trails to railroad stations or northern ranges, but with the influx of homesteaders who fenced the trails and water holes, the drives were forced farther to the west and ultimately had to be abandoned altogether in favor of the railroads. By diverting or stopping this practice the farmers no longer had to suffer the crime and disorder as well as destruction of crops that accompanied a great drive. Moreover, by closing these trails much of the stock disease that tormented the western farmers for nearly a decade was greatly reduced, and the lawsuits, killings, and quarantines which often accompanied a herd of infected cattle were reduced to a minimum. The abandoning of the drive also made for better beeves as well as better prices. Instead of marketing cattle by "a long, weary drive" they could, with pastures, be held off the market and fattened and only part of the herd shipped at a time."
"Borrowed" from somewhere in cyberspace. B-)
Osage Orange
Osage orange fences were popular in eastern Nebraska before barbed wire. It was imported since it is not a native tree. Plant the seeds close together and the thorny trees turn away livestock. In later years when the lower branches died, they would run a few strands of barbed wire along the trees. One of the later problems was the transport of seeds by the birds and pastures became full of the trees.
Osage Orange
> Osage orange fences were popular in eastern Nebraska before barbed wire. It was imported since it is not a native tree. Plant the seeds close together and the thorny trees turn away livestock. In later years when the lower branches died, they would run a few strands of barbed wire along the trees. One of the later problems was the transport of seeds by the birds and pastures became full of the trees.
Count your blessings that it's not as prolific as Bois D' Arc is down here. That stuff is as hard as cold blue steel.
Osage Orange
Same stuff. Hedge, osage orange, bois d'arc, bodark, whatever you want to call it. Came from somewhere in Europe where hedges were used as separation methods. I'm told the original plan was to trim up and tie down errant limbs such that it was nearly impenetrable from the ground to a height of about four feet. The width of the hedge bushing out prevented the need for it to be any taller. Some of the early settlers here set up hedge nurseries for later movement to the desired lines. The hedge apple/ball contains the seeds but works best after the outer covering has been tremendously weakened by going through a fermentation process. Rabbit and squirrel poop is the primary reason for widespread scattering.
Osage Orange
> Same stuff. Hedge, osage orange, bois d'arc, bodark, whatever you want to call it. Came from somewhere in Europe where hedges were used as separation methods. I'm told the original plan was to trim up and tie down errant limbs such that it was nearly impenetrable from the ground to a height of about four feet. The width of the hedge bushing out prevented the need for it to be any taller. Some of the early settlers here set up hedge nurseries for later movement to the desired lines. The hedge apple/ball contains the seeds but works best after the outer covering has been tremendously weakened by going through a fermentation process. Rabbit and squirrel poop is the primary reason for widespread scattering.
We have trees here 30" in diameter. The ONLY saving grace about them, when they get that big, is that the thorns tend to have already come off. Otherwise, it's a worthless tree and I don't care if the Indians made bows out of them or not. A close second to the hardness of that tree is the Black Jack Oak. Ugh, both make sparks when you hit it with a machete and I've broken more than one on each of them.
Osage Orange
>Came from somewhere in Europe where hedges were used as separation methods.
Au contraire, my cud-chewing compatriot. According to the U.S. Forest Service (and the government would never lie):
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Osage-orange is native to a narrow belt in eastern Texas, southeastern
Oklahoma, southwestern Arkansas, and the extreme northwest corner of
Louisiana. This belt includes portions of the Blackland Prairies, Chiso
Mountains, and the Red River drainage. Osage-orange has been
introduced into most of the conterminous United States and has become
naturalized throughout much of the eastern United States and the central
Great Plains
Osage Orange
They were used as wind breaks in my part of the country to counter the effects of the Dust Bowl. There are at least two rows of them planted within two miles of my grandfather's place. They make great Corner posts as they are extremely rot resistant. So do Black Locust, but they don't last quite as long.
B-)
Osage Orange
Well, I'll be dammed. All these years I had been told it was the nefarious Frenchmen who brought the blasted thing to this country. Turns out it was primarily the nefarious Texicans. The wikipedia report mentions early cuttings being provided by Peter Chouteau who lived amongst the Osage tribe in the very early 19th century. At that time, the majority of Osage communities were in western Missouri, primarily south of the Missouri River. They started moving into eastern Kansas and Oklahoma soon after that. They finally landed in what is now Osage County, Oklahoma which has produced billions of barrels of oil for them.
Osage Orange
When there is enough of it in any area around here, the term "bocat thicket" is commonly used.
I staked about 10 miles of 70+ miles of boundary to the White Oak Mitigation Area taken to reclaim land as a wildlife restoration area because of a new lake the COE was building.
One day me and three helpers (Larry, Tim and Terry) battled 10hr with chain saw to cut a 1,400 ft line thru the heart of a Bois 'de Arc (bocat) thicket. Every other day no less than a mile of boundary had been cleared and marked. Actually, we were only able to cut a tunnel, one way in, one way out, until we passed the thicket. The trees were intermingled like a briarpatch except this was a mangled growth of limbs and trunks and the tops would not fall when cut. There was only room for one person to saw at a time, so we took turns sawing until the chain needed sharpening while the others moved debris from the path. The saw chain barely lasted the day.
Terry said he would rather give Superman a haircut than to do that again.
Wicked stuff.
B-)
Osage Orange
Tore my rotator cuff on it
Osage Orange
From a Nebraska newspaper - July 29, 1858.
Osage Orange
I hate cutting thru Bois D'Arc thickets bad enough, but I really hate cutting through thickets of Trifoliate Orange.
There is no way to cut this stuff without getting seriously stuck. If you leave the cuttings on the line long enough to dry, they will pierce through the sole of any boot in a heart beat - bad stuff!