Thursday, August 9, 2018

"Bet-a-Million" Gates

barbed wire
Photo by Fir0002
(Texas Day by Day) On this day in 1911, barbed wire promoter and oilman John Warne (Bet-a-Million) Gates died.
Gates was born in Illinois in 1855. Gates arrived in Texas as a barbed wire salesman for the Washburn-Moen Company in 1876. He rented San Antonio's Military Plaza, constructed a barbed-wire corral, and filled it with longhorn cattle to demonstrate the holding power of barbed wire. His demonstration resulted in orders for more wire than the factory could produce.
Gates returned to Illinois and, upon being refused a partnership in Washburn-Moen, quit. He went to St. Louis, where he helped build the Southern Wire Company into the largest manufacturer and distributor of unlicensed "moonshine/non-patented" barbed wire. Continued

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