August-September 2024 • Nebraskaland 49
Entrepreneurs, meanwhile, made barbed wire easier
to use. "Any boy 12 years old can operate the machine,"
boasted Josiah M. Robinson of Kenesaw, describing his
patented wire reel. Robinson soon moved his manufacturing
operation to Hastings and sold his product for several years
in the 1890s. He is an example of a long Nebraska tradition:
the farmer-inventor-entrepreneur.
Livestock-proof fences weren't only for farms. They also
protected property in Nebraska's 19th century cities, where
residents commonly kept chickens, milk cows and even
hogs.
"Has the University no rights that cows are bound
to respect?" asked the University of Nebraska student
newspaper in 1879. "A number of these quadrupeds may be
seen every day watching around the corner of the building
to pounce upon the fi rst blade of grass that makes an
appearance. Have 'em before the discipline committee!"
Groundskeepers planted a hedge and strung barbed wire,
and in 1892 enclosed the campus with a wrought iron fence
(which now lines O Street beside Wyuka cemetery). But by
then the fence probably had more to do with controlling
humans than cows.
N
Visit History Nebraska's website at history.nebraska.gov.
Omaha residents needed strong fencing to keep roaming hogs out of their gardens. The view is east from the old capitol
grounds (present site of Central High School), 1868. HISTORY NEBRASKA RG2341-2-P06
A strand of barbed wire protects University of Nebraska
grounds in this photo taken between 1887 and 1900.
University Hall, the original building on campus, was razed
in 1948. HISTORY NEBRASKA RG2758-1-24
