The Forgotten Camel Corps of the American West
In the 1850s, the U.S. Army tried to use camels for transport across the deserts of the Southwest, hoping they would outperform horses and mules.
In the dry and inhospitable stretches of the American Southwest, a bizarre experiment unfolded in the mid-19th century—one largely forgotten in the sweep of history. Before the famous expansion of railroads and the dominance of horses and oxen in the westward push, the United States Army turned to an unlikely ally to aid its movement across the arid territories: the camel.
The origin of this strange endeavor dates back to the 1830s, when explorers and soldiers first noted the difficulties of traversing the arid, sandy deserts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Traditional cavalry horses and supply mules found the conditions grueling. The populations in these regions were growing, and maintaining reliable communication and supply routes was a challenge that sometimes bordered on the insurmountable.
Enter Jefferson Davis, who, before becoming the President of the Confederacy, served as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. Davis was a forward-thinking man in many respects, and he saw parallels between the deserts of the American Southwest and those of the Middle East and North Africa, where camels had for centuries carried loads across punishing terrain. In 1855, Davis persuaded Congress to allocate $30,000—a sizable sum at the time—for the purchase and importation of camels for a grand experiment.
A Navy lieutenant, Edward Fitzgerald Beale, and Major Henry C. Wayne led the effort, traveling to the eastern Mediterranean to purchase camels. The first wave consisted of thirty-four dromedaries (one-humped camels) and bactrians (two-humped camels), which set sail for Texas aboard the USS Supply in 1856. The animals arrived at Indianola, Texas, much to the awe and confusion of locals and soldiers alike.
The Army quickly began testing the abilities of their new beasts of burden. The camels’ ability to thrive without water for days and bear loads far greater than any mule or horse was immediately apparent. Expeditions led by Beale trekked across the deserts from Texas to California, each time validating the camel’s remarkable endurance, resistance to thirst, and speed over tough terrain. Eyewitnesses recounted with amazement how the camels could eat desert plants shunned by other animals and bear awkward loads without complaint.
Yet, acceptance was not universal. Soldiers found the camels obstinate, difficult to manage, and, most notably, a source of unrelenting stench. Horses and mules, unused to the sight and smell of camels, often panicked, throwing off their riders and bolting at the mere sight or scent of the new arrivals. Some Army handlers took a liking to camels, but many others openly despised them.
The outbreak of the Civil War shifted the attention of the government, diverting resources from the Camel Corps. Confederate troops seized several of the camels and scattered them. After the war, with logistics and leadership in disarray and a general disinterest in further experimentation, the surviving camels were auctioned off. Some went to circuses, some were taken to Mexico, and a few were simply released into the deserts where, for decades after, there were stories of wild camels spotted by ranchers and cowboys.
Though the Camel Corps lasted barely a decade and is now mostly a curiosity, it left an indelible, if faint, mark on American history. There are said to be descendants of these camels wandering the southwest as late as the early twentieth century, and legends like that of the “Red Ghost”—an apparition of a giant camel seen with some ghastly human remains tangled in its harness—haunt regional folklore.
Today, few Americans are aware that the United States ever imported camels for military use. Nevertheless, for a brief span, these ships of the desert traversed the high arid plains and sandy washes of the American West, providing a glimpse of a path not taken in the country’s development.
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