NEW MEXICO’S OLD TIMES & OLD TIMERS
McPHERSON HEIFER BULLS
by Don Bullis, New Mexico Author DonBullis.biz
½ Corriente, ½ Angus bulls. All Solid Black Virgins
“The U. S. Army Camel Corps …
½ Corriente, ½ Angus Bred Heifers & Young Pairs Solid Black Matt • 806/292-1035 Steve • 806/292-1039 Lockney, Texas • Claude, Texas Columbus, New Mexico
finally died because it was [just] too strange.”
A
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camel train arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from Camp Verde, Texas, in the autumn of 1857. It had caused quite a stir in each town it passed through as the camels plodded along, impervious to the attention they attracted. The train stayed in the Duke City for three days before moving on to the west, to Fort Defiance, which was in New Mexico at the time. There is some debate about who first came up with the idea of using camels for military purposes in the American southwest. One source credited Lt. Edward F. Beale with promoting the notion that the beasts could be put to good use as mounts and pack animals. Another source reports that the original idea belonged to Henry C. Wayne, an army artillery officer who also served in the southwest during the Mexican War. It was Wayne who took the idea to a United States Senator from Mississippi named Jefferson Davis in 1851. Davis left office soon afterwards but became Secretary of War under President Franklin Pearce in 1853. Through Davis’ good offices in his new position, $30,000 was appropriated in late 1854 for the purpose of importing camels for military purposes. Davis placed Henry Wayne, then a major, in charge of buying the camels. A navy ship, the USS Supply, commanded by Lt. D. D. Porter was assigned the duty of transporting the animals. Major Wayne traveled first to England to study the animals at the London Zoo. He then met up with Porter and the Supply in Italy and they sailed further east on the Mediterranean Sea. They purchased three camels in Tunis, nine in Egypt, and 21 in Smyrna; nine were drom-
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DECEMBER 2020
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