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Under a tangled osage orange tree, three miles south of Chetopa, Kansas. Although native to southern Oklahoma and eastern Texas, osage oranges were planted widely throughout the midwest in the 1850s and 60s to fence pastures. An alternative to wooden fences that were expensive and deteriorated quickly, a hedge of closely planted osage oranges was promoted as “horse-high, bull-strong, and pig-tight.” The popularity of osage oranges declined rapidly after 1874 when barbed wire was patented.