New Mexico’s Old Times & Old Timers

NEW MEXICO’S OLD TIMES & OLD TIMERS

by Don Bullis, New Mexico Author DonBullis.biz

“The U. S. Army Camel Corps …

finally died because it was [just] too strange.”

Acamel 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 dromMcPHERSON HEIFER BULLS  ½ Corriente, ½ Angus bulls. All Solid Black Virgins ½ Corriente, ½ Angus Bred Heifers & Young Pairs Solid Black Matt • 806/292-1035 Steve • 806/292-1039

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edaries (one humped) and the rest were bactrian (two humped). They arrived at Indianola, Texas in May 1856, and the animals were moved on to Camp Verde, about 60 miles north of San Antonio. Lt. Porter was ordered back to the Middle East for more animals and returned in February 1857 with 41 more.

Local folks poked a great deal of fun at the odd-looking animals and expressed doubt that they could each do the work of four horses, which had been promised. To prove the point Major Wayne offered a demonstration. He put a single camel on display and made the animal kneel. He affixed two bales with a total weight of more than 600 pounds to the beast, and then affixed two more of equal weight, a total of 1,256 pounds. The animal stood without effort and walked away. As a rule, each camel carried about twice the load of a pack mule.

In basic logistics, a camel ate and drank about the same amount as a horse, but it could travel 300 miles, loaded, in three to four days without drinking. The troops working with them, however, did not like their charges. Camels required more care than horses, the soldiers complained; they were not as maneuverable as horses in combat; they were more stubborn than mules; and they defecated at random and smelled bad. Camels also tended to spook horses and mules.

Secretary or War (under president James Buchanan) John B. Floyd officially created the U. S. Army Camel Corps in March 1857 and Edward Beale was placed in command. Beale was assigned the task of using the beasts to forge a road west from New Mexico to California; hence the Camel Corps visit to Albuquerque. Beale completed his task and opened the new road in 48 days, a remarkable feat. Beale reported thus to congress, “I have tested the value of the camels, marked a new road to the Pacific, and traveled 4,000 miles without an accident.” Secretary Floyd ordered an additional 1,000 of the animals, but before an appropriation could be approved by congress, war between the states became a very real possibility and the entire program was abandoned and in 1859 Beale was ordered to dispose of the camels.

He managed to avoid doing so until about 1863, keeping some of them on his own property in California. Some were later given to the city of Los Angeles where they were used to transport mail and baggage. In 1864 many others were sold to highest bidders and used by private interests to haul freight. Some were used in circuses. Texas Confederates captured the camels remaining at Camp Verde, but couldn’t figure out what to do with them, so they set them free to fend for themselves. Apparently, no one kept tabs on the beasts after that and reports continued for years of camel sightings in the remote corners of the deserts of the far west. In 1907 a Nevada prospector encountered a couple of them, and as recently as the early 1970s, there was a rumor that one had been seen in a remote area of west Texas. Historian Marc Simmons reported that the last one died at the Griffith Park Zoo in Los Angeles, California, in 1934.

One source concluded with this: “The U.S. Army Camel Corps, which had successfully…carried military loads throughout the new West, finally died of mistreatment and neglect—because it was [just] too strange.” ▫

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