It is the story of a universal and familiar tool : barbed wire. It dates back to the first settlers, the spirit of conquest and the control of the wilds. It is rooted into the American West’s development. It is the story of a small farming tool that became integrated into political history with the help of growing capitalism. It is the history of the evolution of surveillance and control techniques. The reversal of a relationship between man and animals. It is the story of the world of fencing in and the fencing in of the world.