Build good fences, make good friends, and keep your laundry indoors. ~ The Library of the Unwritten
All good advice, though some might argue with the laundry bit. In any case, this post primarily focuses on fences, which humans have been building for much longer than you might think, and for reasons that transcend cultural differences. We know this because the word “fences” came into use across the pond in the early 14th century. Etymonline suggests it was shortened from defens, i.e. action of defending, resistance; means of protection, fortification. That makes almost too much sense to be credible, but we’ll go with it.
The Onset of Perimeters
As long as humans led nomadic lives, they didn’t need to create physical boundaries. They followed food sources in much the same way that wildlife does today. Once the shift was made to an agrarian society, however, people began to build barriers to mark their property or to protect what was inside the perimeter. Northland Fence tells us people erected the first fences of stone or earthworks over 14,000 years ago. One famous “fence” is the Great Wall of China, on which construction began over 2,000 years ago. Emperor Qin Shi Huang conceived the idea to prevent invasions from the north. Successive emperors continued work in fits and starts for the next 17 centuries.
The Wall is, of course, an extreme example. In the Middle Ages, moats served to protect the inhabitants, but even those with more modest means had methods to secure their holdings. The landscape of the UK–and other countries, I imagine–is crisscrossed with high-density shrubs that fashion the same degree of privacy as a stone barrier. They also make it nearly impossible to see around the bend on those perilously small roads, but that’s another story.
About the "good fences make good neighbors" thing ...*
I don’t have data to prove it, but how many western TV shows have you seen that included conflict over land rights and “don’t fence me in” phrases? Of course, production companies that produce programs for entertainment rarely offer the whole story. That, and we all don’t have the same degree of intellectual curiosity. This means I may not be the only person who never understood–and didn’t question–the root of the anger that fencing sparked among small ranchers and Plains Indian tribes. I learned something about that in an article by Dick Wittenburg in de Correspondent.
As it happens, neither of the groups mentioned above held land in the traditional sense. The Plains Indians were nomadic, following herds of bison and living in easily erected and transportable teepees. The settlers who held small herds of cattle often relied on public lands for grazing, both while they were raising the livestock and during the drive to market. These small cattle ranchers were at odds with owners of much larger operations who fenced in their owned land. You can see where this practice would have impeded those hunting for food as well as cattle drive operators attempting to get to (or from) market as quickly as possible.
* Not sure of Mr. Frost’s intentions in that poem, but he isn’t around to ask. I’ll put that on my list of questions to ask “later.”
And first in line for most hated fencing goes to --
Barbed wire. Also known as bob wire and the Devil’s Rope, Joseph Glidden revolutionized farming with his invention. Sourcing de Correspondent once again, I learned that in 1874, he built on earlier versions to create the first commercially successful barbed wire fencing. Early on, Glidden used common tools such as hammers, pincers, and pliers to modify fencing that was currently available. When his first efforts didn’t work, he began experimenting with his wife’s hairpins, and even further along, he sharpened wire with his coffee grinder to make barbed wire … well, barbed. Once the prototype was ready, he also developed a machine that could mass-produce the fencing.
Glidden’s innovations served to make highly economical fencing available. Once farmers had the ability to protect growing crops and keep livestock within the confines of their property, the westward movement exploded, growing from a population of less than 700,000 in the first half of the 19th century to 17 million. Over the next 25 years, barbed wire’s reach extended to every continent and to new uses. During the Boer War, the British used barbed wire to limit their enemy’s movements, for example.
Once again perspective plays a part
As mentioned in a January 2025 post, when judging a new-fangled contraption, a relationship, or anything else, our views impact our opinions. I wasn’t in the West in the 19th century, but I strongly suspect that the farmers were solely intent on keeping their worldly goods secure, and the Plains Indian tribes primarily wanted an unimpeded path to follow bison. No one can unring the conflict that resulted, and that surprises no one.
What I didn’t know previously was the tangential impact of the invention of barbed wire. In an article by Carl A. Miller, Barbed Wire: A Revolution in Property Rights, we learn that this type of fencing impacted farm productivity by leveling the playing field for farmers whose properties lacked densely wooded areas. Why does that matter? Because if a farmer didn’t own a forest to convert to wood fences, he had to buy fencing, and it was expensive, as well as less effective in containing livestock than the relatively cheap barbed wire. Also, there were legal impacts resulting from challenges made to Glidden’s patent by competitors. The Supreme Court’s resolution of the case established procedures by:
- Establishing evidence of invention using factors such as a “new combination and arrangement of known elements produce a new and beneficial result never attained before;” (New idea.)
- Discounting the simplicity of the design; (Doesn’t matter if it isn’t complex – it can still be patented.)
- Considering the magnitude of the commercial success of the applicant’s invention. (People were buying what he was selling.)
Miller’s article contains other examples of legal implications that you might want to explore further. Your takeaway could be different than mine, but here’s what resonated with me:
- Simple ideas can generate lasting economic and legal changes.
- Humans may go about their protection devices in different ways, but security has been a priority for as long as we have been thinking beings.
- We–those of us living in this century–aren’t as smart as we think we are.
Of course, we continue to add to the foundation laid for us, but still. How many of us are content with the status quo (tools, machines, products) that are “good enough”, as opposed to the few who dig deep and explore possibilities for improvement everywhere they look? Inventive types don’t always hit their target. But even when they don’t, they’re laying pavers for problem solvers who come after them, aren’t they? Certainly, we shouldn’t sow discontent, but if we see a need for improvement, shouldn’t we pursue a solution as far as our brains can take us?
I leave you with this quote by Yoko Ogawa, taken from The Housekeeper and The Professor, “Solving a problem for which you know there’s an answer is like climbing a mountain with a guide, along a trail someone else has laid. In mathematics, the truth is somewhere out there in a place no one knows, beyond all the beaten paths. And it’s not always at the top of the mountain. It might be in a crack on the smoothest cliff or somewhere deep in the valley.”
When I think of fences, i think of Scotland and folks walking to find stones, then bring thousands of them back to fence their property.
I know. I was thinking about all those stone walls, too. It’s difficult to imagine the amount of labor required to not only move all those stones, but also to assemble them in anything remotely aligned with property borders AND to make them level along the top. Wow.
Some people build fences with tall hedges which I think blends in with the environment better than a heavy wall blocking your neighbor. Your research is well written and provocative.