The Incredible U.S. Camel Corps Experiment
In the 1850s, the U.S. Army imported camels for desert transport. The venture promised progress but ended in surprising obscurity.
Few Americans know that camels once roamed the deserts of the American Southwest, not by accident but at the behest of the United States Army. In the mid-19th century, as America looked to expand westward, crossing arid and rugged terrains became a pressing challenge, especially with traditional horses and mules struggling in the heat and dust. Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War and later President of the Confederacy, proposed an unconventional solution: camels.
Congress authorized $30,000 in 1855 for the importation of camels, and Major Henry C. Wayne was dispatched along with Navy Lieutenant David Dixon Porter to the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Their mission was clear: procure the finest dromedaries and Bactrian camels, famed for their endurance in harsh environments. By the spring of 1856, the ship USS Supply returned to Texas with 33 camels and a handful of experienced camel handlers from the Ottoman Empire and North Africa.
The herd was stationed at Camp Verde, near San Antonio, Texas. Soldiers and civilians were initially skeptical, even mocking, as the ungainly creatures towered awkwardly over mules and horses. But the camels quickly proved their mettle, carrying loads up to 600 pounds and traveling for days without water. In 1857, Lieutenant Edward Beale led an experimental expedition with camels from Texas to California, blazing what would later become part of the famous Beale Wagon Road. The camels outperformed all other pack animals, outlasting them on endurance and efficiency, and some reports claim they helped save lives during grueling droughts.
Yet despite their advantages, camels were never fully embraced. American soldiers complained of their unpredictable temperaments, loud noises, and foul odor. Horses and mules panicked in the presence of camels, making mixed trains impractical. The Civil War broke out, shifting government priorities, and when Texas seceded, Camp Verde fell to the Confederacy. Many camels were either auctioned off, abandoned, or simply set free.
A few camels survived for decades in the Southwest, with reports of wild camels persisting well into the early 20th century. Local legends spread, including the notorious “Red Ghost” of Arizona—a giant red camel supposedly seen with a human skeleton tied to its back, spooking miners and ranchers across the desert. Some even claim that the last surviving American camel was spotted in the 1940s, though unverified.
The U.S. Camel Corps remains a curious footnote in history books, mostly forgotten despite its genuine promise and spectacle. It serves as a rare glimpse into a time when America’s expansion involved not just innovation and risk, but peculiar cross-cultural experiments that never quite fit into the national story, leaving only a faded legacy on the sun-bleached trails of the Old West.
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