United States Camel Corps

In 1836, Major George H. Crosman, United States Army, who was convinced from his experiences in the American Indian Wars in Florida that camels would be useful as beasts of burden, encouraged the War Department to use camels for transportation. In 1848 or earlier, Major Henry C. Wayne conducted a more detailed study and recommended importation of camels to the War Department. Wayne's opinions agreed with those of then Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. Davis was unsuccessful until he was appointed as Secretary of War in 1853 by President Franklin Pierce. When US forces were required to operate in arid and desert regions, the President and Congress began to take the idea seriously. Davis found the Army needed to improve transportation in the southwestern US, which he and most observers thought a great desert. In his annual report for 1854, Davis wrote, "I again invite attention to the advantages to be anticipated from the use of camels and dromedaries for military and other purposes..." On March 3, 1855, the US Congress appropriated $30,000 () for the project. In later years, Edward Fitzgerald Beale reportedly told his son, Truxtun, that the idea of using camels came to him when he was exploring Death Valley with Kit Carson. Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, sympathized with Beale, and Beale persuaded his friend and kinsman Lieutenant David Dixon Porter to apply for command of the expedition to acquire the camels. The account is not supported by Beale's diaries or papers. ==Acquisition==

Major Wayne was assigned to procure the camels. On June 4, 1855, Wayne departed New York City on board the USS Supply, under the command of then Lieutenant David Dixon Porter. After arriving in the Mediterranean Sea, Wayne and Porter began procuring camels. Stops included Goletta (Tunisia), Malta, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt. They acquired 33 animals (19 females and 14 males), including two Bactrian, 29 dromedary, one dromedary calf, and one booghdee (a cross between a male Bactrian and a female dromedary). While Porter was on his second mission, five camels from the first herd died. The newly acquired animals joined the first herd at Camp Verde, which had been officially designated as the camel station. The Army had 70 camels. ==Use in the Southwest==

, San Pedro, California (1863 or earlier)Wayne attempted a breeding program for the camels, but his plans were put aside when Secretary Davis wrote that the animals were to be tested to determine if they could be used to accomplish a military objective. The train included 24 camels and 24 mules. It set out in May 1859. The expedition arrived at Camp Hudson on May 18. The group remained at Camp Hudson for five days and then departed for Fort Stockton, Texas, arriving on June 12. On June 15, the expedition set out for the mouth of Independence Creek to test the camels' ability to survive without water. The distance traveled was about 85 miles at four miles per hour. The camels showed no desire for water during the trip, but were watered upon arrival. The party then set out on a 114-mile, four-day journey to Fort Davis near the Rio Grande. During this segment of the journey, one of the camels was bitten on its leg by a rattlesnake; the wound was treated and the animal suffered no ill effects. Upon reaching Fort Davis, the horses and mules were distressed, but the camels were not. After a three-day rest, the expedition returned directly to Fort Stockton. Hartz wrote that "the superiority of the camel for military purposes in the badly-watered sections of the country seems to be well established." ==Aftermath==

In a February 14, 1861 letter addressed to the Buchanan administration, King Mongkut of Siam referenced the introduction of the camel and offered his collaboration if the US wished to do the same with the Asian elephant. Mongkut reasoned that pairs of elephants could be released in American forests, where they would multiply and be captured later for use as beasts of burden in forested areas without roads. Buchanan's successor Abraham Lincoln politely declined the offer on February 3, 1862 arguing that "Our political jurisdiction, however, does not reach a latitude so low as to favor the multiplication of the elephant, and steam on land, as well as on water, has been our best and most efficient agent of transportation in internal commerce." Early in the Civil War, an attempt was made to use the camels to carry mail between Fort Mohave, New Mexico Territory, on the Colorado River and New San Pedro, California, but the attempt was unsuccessful after the commanders of both posts objected. Later in the war, the Army had no further interest in the animals and they were sold at auction in 1864. The last of the animals from California was reportedly seen in Arizona in 1891. One of the few camel drivers whose name survives was Hi Jolly. He lived out his life in the United States. After his death in 1902, he was buried in Quartzsite, Arizona. His grave is marked by a pyramid-shaped monument topped with a metal profile of a camel. ==In popular culture==

• The 1954 film Southwest Passage (originally titled Camel Corps) deals with the subject. • The long-running TV anthology series Death Valley Days recounted the camel tale in a 1957 episode entitled "Camel Train". • In the 1957 TV show Have Gun Will Travel episode "The Great Mojave Chase" features the hero Paladin entering a long marathon-like race contest through the desert while riding a camel left over from the Camel Corps instead of a horse. Along the way he takes time to help townspeople who are suffering under a man who controls their water. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry. • The Lucky Luke anthology album La Corde du pendu includes a story titled La Mine du chameau, which features a fictionalized account of the Camel Corps venture and its aftermath. • In season one of the series Maverick, Brett Maverick (James Garner) wins a "full blooded Arabian mount, Imported!" which turns out to be a camel which drives the story in the episode "Relic of Fort Tejon" (1957). • In 1976, Joe Camp directed and released a comedy loosely based on the U.S. Camel Corps titled Hawmps! • The 1997 alternate history novel How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove depicts the Confederate States Army using camel-mounted soldiers in Texas, Mexico, and Arizona during the 1870s and 1880s. The introduction of the camels is attributed to President Jefferson Davis before the War of Secession. • The 2019 historical fiction novel Inland by Téa Obreht includes a first-person storyline told by a young outlaw of Balkan Muslim descent to his camel companion after going on the run together in Arizona Territory. The narrator's story includes witnessing the arrival of camels to Indianola and unexpectedly joining the team of camel drivers on their trek from Texas to the Colorado River. Throughout the journey, he bonds with a camel named Burke and other members of the U.S. Camel Corps, including Hi Jolly (Hadji Ali) and Yiorgos Caralambo (Greek George). ==See also==