by Terry Lidral
Wild camels really did exist in the American Southwest in the deserts of Texas, Arizona and California. They were sighted during the late Nineteenth and into the early Twentieth Centuries. But they were only remnants of herds of camels imported from the Far East by the United States Army to be used as beasts of burden.
The initial introduction of camels into the American Southwest came in 1856 when the United States Army brought 31 of the animals to Indianola, Texas. It was hoped that the camels, naturally better suited to survive in the desert climate of the southwest than horses and mules, would enable the army to be quicker moving and more productive in the harsh, dry terrain.
The exotic animals, penned up on a Navy vessel during the journey from the Middle East, made quite a spectacle charging off the ship and galloping around the surrounding Texas landscape. The Army camels were subsequently driven overland ending up at Camp Verde, outside of San Antonio, which became the permanent residence of the camel corp. In 1857, 41 additional camels were brought to Camp Verde, via Indianola.
The camel experiment, as it was called by the Army, was immediately put into action and used for such things as supply runs to San Antonio. As the camels were tested on long range patrols and difficult reconnaissance and surveying missions, camels proved to be the superior beast of burden. It took a mule 5 days to do a loaded trip that a camel could do in 2. And 6 camels could do the work of 12 horses in 42 hours less time. Camels could travel bearing heavy loads in terrain too tough for wagons.
The only test the camels failed was an express run in which the camels died of exhaustion.
One of the major problems with the camels was their distinctive pungent body odor. It was offensive to people and it scared horses, making it difficult to stable horses and camels in the same proximity. As the camel experiment showed success, horsemen became concerned that the camel would be seen as a superior pack animal and continually rallied the public to condemn their presence. Mule skinners hated working around the odorous beasts and eventually succeeded in having them banned on Nevada routes.
Camels have a nasty disposition and spit cud when they are upset. This made them unpopular with the general population.
Due to administration changes in Washington, D.C., the camel experiment became idled until June 1857. At that time, the U.S. government issued a contract to a man named Edward Beale for surveying a wagon road from Fort Defiance New Mexico Territory to the Colorado River on the California/Arizona border. In the contract was the stipulation that the camel corps would be included in the expedition.
Over the course of Beale’s 4-month, 12 hundred mile expedition, the camels proved themselves superior to the mules and horses. Their stamina and steadfast footing in any and all terrain made them invaluable to the success of the surveying mission. The camels were also credited with saving the group from dying of thirst with their ability to find water. The route that the expedition surveyed was later used for the Santa Fe Railroad and Highway 66.
Once Beale was finished with his expedition, it is said that the camels were moved to the ranch of Beale’s friend Samuel Bishop to be used in his personal business as beasts of burden. In 1859, the Army retook possession of the camels that Beale had brought from Camp Verde.
When the Civil War broke and Texas seceded in 1861, the camels at Camp Verde came into the possession of confederate soldiers. They were used for transport and were generally mistreated. Some were killed and others were simply set free.
The camels in California were cared for at the Los Angeles Quartermaster Depot where they were well treated and allowed to breed. Unfortunately, they were left idle and frequently transferred from one various location to another. Their usefulness became obsolete.
When the camel corp came into the possession of the Confederates, it was the end of the experiement for the U.S. Army.
At the end of the Civil War, the U.S. government officially put an end to the camel experiment and sold all the remaining camels at auction. The 36 camels in the California herd were sold for a total sum of $1945 at public auction. Many ended up as pack animals working in mining operations.
A group of camels sold in the California auction to a man named Samuel McLaughlen were taken to Nevada’s mining towns. The exotic animals were problematic and considered nuisances as they terrified the local livestock. McLaughlen took the camels south to Fort Yuma, Arizona to sell for use in the Mexican mines. But McLaughlen died on the journey and the camels were set free to fend for themselves. These camels became the source of Arizona legends and ghost stories still told today.
The remaining camels at Camp Verde were sold to a businessman for $31 apiece. He in turn sold them to circuses, mining operations and turned free those he could not sell.
Wild camels survived in the arid southwestern climate for many years. They were thought to roam parts of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California. Sightings were reported well into the Twentieth Century in Arizona, New Mexico and California. There is much debate about the truth of the later reports, but there is documentation of a camel stampeding horses in Banning, California in 1929 that some historians consider credible.
