The Romance of Barbed Wire

BY: Pete Cowgill,R.C.

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS THIS ISSUE

WE PRESENT A FEATURE ON BARBED WIRE AND TAKE YOU TO A PLACE STRANGE AND EERIE CALLED WILLCOX PLAYA OR THE "DRY LAKE"

JACK WILLIAMS ARIZONA HIGHWAY COMMISSION

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS is published monthly by the Arizona Highway Department. Address: ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, 2039 W. Lewis Ave., Phoenix, Arizona 85009. $5.00 per year in U.S. and possessions; $6.00 elsewhere; 60 cents each. Second Class Postage paid at Phoenix, Arizona, under Act of March 3, 1879. Copyrighted 1969, by the Arizona Highway Department. Printed in Arizona, U.S.A.

ALLOW FIVE WEEKS FOR A CHANGE OF ADDRESS. BE SURE TO SEND IN THE OLD AS WELL AS THE NEW ADDRESS INCLUDING ZIP CODE.

OPPOSITE PAGE

"CATTLE IN THE JOSHUA FOREST" BY DARWIN VAN CAMPEN. This photograph was taken northwest of Kingman in Mohave County just off the road to Pierce Ferry. The Joshua Forest encountered by the traveler going to Lake Mead is one of the most spectacular of its kind in the West. The Ferry, established in 1876, disappeared under the waters of Lake Mead in 1956. 4 x 5 Linhof camera; Ektachrome; f.132 at 1/25 sec.; 150mm Symmar lens; bright sunlit day in May.

FRONT COVER

"SOMEONE LEFT THE GATE OPEN" FROM AN OIL PAINTING BY ARTIST JOE BEELER. The artist, who lives in Sedona and is enjoying increasing repute as a fine Western artist, is no stranger to ranch life and the Western scene. When we asked him to do something for us featuring barbed wire, this painting was the result. When we questioned him about the long horns of the cow, he explained in coyote country mamma cow is allowed long horns to protect her calf.

Historians and other learned and observing spectators of the Western scene have convinced us that the West was won by the Colt .45, the Winchester rifle and a man on horseback. Bright-eyed youngsters of today, whose historical viewpoint has been nurtured by movie and TV interpretations of scenes long passed, contend the West was won by large, brawling, swaggering heroes of the silver screen, of icy eyes, fast guns, unerring aim, hearts of steel, a propensity for fair damsels in distress, and the infinite ability to photograph well. In quiet contemplation, one might say, in this respect, that the true winners of the West are Hollywood makeup men with a fast draw from cosmetics cases.

We'll leave the argument of how the West was won to better minds than ours, but we'll tell you what tamed the West (and we use a number of words and photographs herein as authoritative testimony in doing so) - barbed wire! Yep! Barbed wire! Testy, touchy, treacherous, truculent, temperamental, and just plain mean, ornery barbed wire! But what barbed wire lacked in personality it made up (and still does) in purpose.

Its purpose was to bring order out of chaos, to separate sheep from cattle, to set aside the farm from the range, and to decree with rigid authority what belonged to one man and what belonged to another. When you consider the vastness of the West, the limitless horizons, the endless unruly distances of the West that barbed wire brought into mannerly control, you must admit barbed wire served (and is serving) its purpose well and in masterful fashion. In truth, without barbed wire there would be no Old West as pioneers knew, or the West as we know it today.

And, in a more prosaic fashion, we might suggest barbed wire made up in olden days the most important clothesline in the world. How many pair of dirty cowboy socks or long underwear have been dried on barbed wire fences no one will ever know. It staggers the imagination.

COLOR CLASSICS FROM ARIZONA HIGHWAYS THIS ISSUE

35mm slides in 2" mounts, 1 to 15 slides, 40 each; 16 to 49 slides, 35 each; 50 or more, 3 for $1.00. Catalog of previous slides issued available on request. Address: ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, 2039 West Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85009.

AR-214 Someone Left the Gate Open, cov. 1; DS-219 Cattle in the Joshua Forest, cov. 2; WH-125 Grazing Cattle, cov. 3; UM-16 Farm Scene, cov. 4; V-170 Eroded Sand Dunes, p. 3; V-171 Portrait of a Dry Land, p. 6-7; V-172 Portrait of Nothing, p. 10; V-173 S.P. Rails, p. 10; V-174 In the Baked and Chipped Land, p. 10; S-83 Departing Sun, p. 10; BW-1 Barbed Wire Bouquet, p. 14; BW-2 Barbed Wire Designs, p. 15; BW-3 More Barbed Wire Designs, p. 15; BW-4 From Bill Powers' Barbed Wire Collection, p. 16; BW-5 Choice Items, p. 16; CC-62 Barbed Wire in Canyon de Chelly, p. 17; BW-6 Barbed Wire Gate, p. 18; BW-7 Various Examples, p. 19; BW-8 Intricate Design, p. 19; AR-215 Deep in the Heart of Barbed Wire Country, p. 20-21; BW-9 Destination Unknown, p. 22; BW-10 Barbed Wire Fence, p. 23; BW-11 Barbed Wire Tableau, p. 24-25; BW-12 Fence to Infinity, p. 26; BW-13 Lonely Fence, p. 31; BW-14 When It's Tumbling Tumbleweed Time, p. 34-35; AR-216 Sing a Song to a Barbed Wire Fence, p. 34-35-