I'm absolutely sure I've read this article before. Is it maybe an excerpt from a book...? I feel like there's some book about the west that spends a dedicated while on the history of barbed wire, and I've read it.

EDIT: the gist is that barbed wire segmented the west and ended the dominion of the free-range ranchers etc. if I recall right. If that's what the Slate article is about, then I'm not crazy.