Upon Ellwood's refusal to grant him a partnership in the company. Gates traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, where in partnership with Alfred Clifford, he started the Southern Wire Company to compete with Washburn-Moen. Clifford's equipment to manufacture barbed wire had come from George C. Baker, who had invented a machine for producing barbed wire which was similar but not identical to the one made by Isaac Ellwood. Baker had resisted all attempts by Ellwood and Washburn-Moen to buy him out. Gates and Clifford sold their product at a cheaper price than Washburn-Moen. Before long, Washburn-Moen was losing substantial business to Gates and Clifford's Southern Wire Company.