On November 24, 1874, Joseph F. Glidden received U.S. Patent No. 157,124 on Wire-Fences (one of the first successful barbed wire designs):

Glidden’s was not the first patent on barbed wire. That honor goes to  Lucien B. Smith, who received U.S. Patent No. 66182 on June 25, 1867.

Glidden’s patent was the best of them, and even surived a challenge in the Supreme Court. confirming a virtual monopoly of the best design.

Isaac Ellwood received U.S. Patent No. 147756 on his own design, but quickly determined that Glidden’s design was superior and the two formed the Barb Fence Company in DeKalb.

Haish was another early barbed wire entrepreneur who obtained several U.S. Patents (U.S. Patent Nos. 152368, 164552, and 167240). Charles Washburn, who obtained his own patent (U.S. Patent No. 186389), completed the “big four” of the early barbed wire industry.

Several historians date the end of the Old West to the invention and subsequent proliferation of barbed wire.