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All the United States Kansas La Crosse Kansas Barbed Wire Museum

Kansas Barbed Wire Museum

A museum documents the development of the invention that tamed the Wild West.

La Crosse, Kansas

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Mordy
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A sign at the museum proclaims La Crosse to be the “Barbed Wire Capital of the World.”   ianlefk / Atlas Obscura User
A large ball of barbed wire sits outside the museum, displayed on Kansas post-rock limestone plinths.   ianlefk / Atlas Obscura User
Many different styles of displays   Rick Sheridan / Atlas Obscura User
Unusual barb wire artifacts in the museum   Rick Sheridan / Atlas Obscura User
Crow’s nest made of Barbed Wire   Nan LT / CC BY-ND 2.0
  Nan LT
Different styles of barbed wire are catalogued.   ianlefk / Atlas Obscura User
Guitar with barb wire strings.   Rick Sheridan / Atlas Obscura User
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What killed the open range of the Wild West? Was it guns? Horses? Gold? Nope. It was the innovation popularly known as the "Devil's Rope."

The evolution of barbed wire transformed the western United States from cattle roaming prairies to regulated tracts of private land. As freedom-loving pioneers became cattle-owning entrepreneurs of the Old West, an important question loomed. Were cattle-herders entitled to freely graze their livestock in the vast expanse of the land, or did new landowners have a right to enclose their property?

The invention of barbed wire created a simple, cheap way to fence in private property and to deny access to unwelcome, intrusive livestock. The spiny fence system evolved from crude homemade contraptions to factory-produced apparatus.  This museum heralds barbed wire as the informal law enforcement of property laws laying to rest any semblance of an open range.

The Kansas Barbed Wire Museum was built in 1990 to permanently house the extensive collections of barbed wire amassed by enthusiasts around the country. Operating through the contributions of private collectors around the world, the museum accommodates over 2,000 varieties of the pointy metal wire as well as antique tools and equipment used in its manufacturing process. The museum showcases its extraordinary collection through exhibits, dioramas, a theatre, an archive, and even a barbed wire Hall of Fame.

If that wasn’t enough, every year during the first weekend in May, LaCrosse, Kansas is home to the International Antique and Barbed Wire Supershow.  The supershow is one of many conventions around the U.S. where wire collectors gather to show off, swap, buy, and sell their prickly products and generally bathe in the glory of their razor-edged collectibles. Ouch.

Related Tags

Metal Niche Museums Barbed Wire Museums And Collections Museums Collections

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Added By

Mordy

Edited By

Molly McBride Jacobson, Rick Sheridan, ianlefk

  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • Rick Sheridan
  • ianlefk

Published

July 10, 2013

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Sources
  • http://www.rushcounty.org/barbedwiremuseum/bwhistory.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20100721013911/http://www.barbwiremuseum.com/barbedwirehistory.htm
  • http://www.rushcounty.org/RCHS/index.html
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbed_wire
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fence_Cutting_War
Kansas Barbed Wire Museum
120 W 1st Street
La Crosse, Kansas, 67548
United States
38.524362, -99.309513
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Kansas

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The Original Boot Hill Cemetery

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Explore the Destination Guide

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Kansas

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Places 126
Stories 12

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