Camels Ho!!

[Craig Tx]

From the Texas State Historical Association

Camels arrive for trial service in Texas

On this day in 1856, a shipload of camels arrived at the Texas port of Indianola. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis had urged Congress to bring the animals from North Africa to help the army in its Indian operations. Major H. C. Wayne sailed to North Africa in the naval storeship Supply in May 1855 and returned with the first thirty-three camels in April 1856.

On June 4 Wayne set off with his caravan for the frontier posts. The expedition stopped for a time at Victoria, where the animals were clipped and Mrs. Mary A. Shirkey made camel-hair socks for the president of the United States. At Camp Verde experiments were conducted to test the camels' utility in chasing Indians and transporting supplies. Although more camels were imported, ultimately the experiment failed. Handlers found the animals smelly, obnoxious, and hard to control. Escaped camels roamed the desert for years and got into the folklore of the region.


Craig

[Indiana]

Handlers found the animals smelly, obnoxious, and hard to control.

You can say that again.  Not to mention horribly uncomfortable.  Give me a horse any day.

Thanks for posting this, I've always liked this American history story.  Very, very interesting.  I wonder how long camels roamed the desert for?  

[Shawnee Mike]

There is a post near me, Fort Tejon, That was a camel post in the mid 1800s   They have a decent display regarding them.

[ManyVoices]

Hey, they tried camels up here in the north, too!  Frank Laumeister & John Calbreath thought they'd work well getting supplies to the Canadian gold fields.  Yup, they carried things really well, but spooked the horses and ate anything in sight (including soap and shirts)  More about the Cariboo Camels can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cariboo_camels  (sorry, I don't usually espouse Wiki, but this one seems to be accurate)

Of course, when I got my hands on some luscious camel yarn, I just had to make myself a camel toque, eh?  Okay, okay, so I'm usually a thread counter, and I know this is a bit past my time, but it keeps my ears warm and it's very soft.   :santa