Before there were fences, the range was open and wild. It was a place where cowboys rode for days across endless grasslands, always chasing water and weather. Then came two inventions that changed everything.

The windmill brought water to dry country, making ranching possible where rivers couldn’t reach. Barbed wire drew the lines that ended the open range and reshaped the cowboy’s world forever.

In this episode of Way Out West, learn the story of how technology tamed the range — from Daniel Halladay’s first windmills to Joseph Glidden’s barbed wire empire — and reflect on what was gained, and what was lost, when the West was fenced in.

Transcript: For a full transcript of this episode, click on "Transcript"

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