Ole Ringness, born in Norway, came to Texas with his parents in 1852, stopping in Reiersen's Prairieville settlement. Typhoid fever and drought caused a move to Bosque County, west of Clifton, where Ringness became a mail carrier between that area and Ft. Worth.

Ringness noted, one long and particularly muddy day, that wagon wheels, cupped on the axle, threw out a good deal of dirt to the side. Being a farmer, Ringness immediately had the idea of a new plow blade, shaped like a saucer or a disk. This plow, he knew, would work well in wet black soil. He soon made several models in his father's blacksmith shop.

In 1872 Ringness went to New York City to register a patent. He carried a considerable amount of money, intending to visit Norway after the conclusion of his business.

From New York the family was notified of his death. The cause of death was not, and is not, known; his place of burial could never be determined. And, according to a patent office, the plow design had not been registered, but a patent could be issued for a $5 fee. The family did not pursue the patent registration.

Sometime later disk plows were on the commercial market, patented by J.I. Case Plow Company, as a successful, popular improvement for many soil conditions.