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In 1836, at about the time that Hogeye was first being settled, U.S. Army Lt. George H. Crosman wrote the following report to the United States War Department.
“For strength in carrying burdens, for patient endurance of labor, and privation of food, water & rest, and in some respects speed also, the camel and dromedary (as the Arabian camel is called) are unrivaled among animals. The ordinary loads for camels are from seven to nine hundred pounds each, and with these they can travel from thirty to forty miles a day, for many days in succession. They will go without water, and with but little food, for six or eight days, or it is said even longer. Their feet are alike well suited for traversing grassy or sandy plains, or rough, rocky hills and paths, and they require no shoeing…” quoted from The U.S. Army’s “Camel Corps” Experiment by Vince Hawkins at http://www.armyhistory.org,
The War Department wasn’t interested and it would be 1847 when Crosman was a major that he and Major Henry C. Wayne sent in another report recommending the use of camels. Jefferson Davis, then a U.S. senator from Mississippi, took up the idea. It would be March 3, 1855, before Congress appropriated $30,000 to find and purchase the camels in the Middle East. Davis was at that time secretary of the War Department of the United States.
In May 1855, Davis appointed Major Wayne to acquire the camels. The Navy store ship named USS Supply was outfitted with stables and a “camel car,” like a box, and hoists and slings to get the camels onboard. Thirty-three camels cost about $250 each. The camels were males and females, dromidaries, two humps, and Bactrians, one hump, and others. Five Arab and Turk residents were hired to care for them.
Camels are docile animals, but when abused, they could kick, bite and stomp. They chewed a cud and when unhappy, they would spit it out at the offender. It was large and foul-smelling.
The return voyage lasted almost three months because of storms at sea. The camels were unloaded in
Indianola on May 14, 1856, and arrived at Camp Verde in the Texas Hill Country south of Kerrville. The camp was established by the U.S. Army on July 6, 1855. It surrendered to the Confederate Army in 1861. Reoccupied by the U.S. military in 1865, it was totally abandoned on April 1, 1869.
Trials with the camels were successful, and a second trip was made to the Middle East and 41 additional animals were purchased.
Camels were used very successfully in surveying and road building in the American Southwest. They could eat cactus and other thorny plants, go a week or more without water, carry heavy loads in a short time, never needed to be shod and lived a long time. Their average life span was about 40 years, but one in California lived to be eighty.
Despite the hardiness and usefulness of the camels, the Civil War, the building of railroads and a powerful mule lobby in Congress played a role in the U.S. abandoning the camel experiment. It was also political. Anything proposed by Jefferson Davis was opposed. Davis was a graduate of West Point. He was opposed to secession but was a strong proponent of state rights, Then, he became the president of the Confederacy. Incidentally, although Davis himself had slaves on his Mississippi plantation, his wife, Varina, was opposed to slavery and in later life lived and worked as a writer in New York City.
The first auction of camels held in California took place north of San Francisco on Feb. 26, 1864. The highest bid was $1,945 for 36 camels. Other auctions would follow.
Charlene Hanson Jordan wrote the above narrative as part of her weekly column. Her newest book, “Notes & Recollections, Post Oak Island & Elgin, Texas,” is available at the Elgin Depot Museum where exhibits, photographs and books on local history are also available. The museum is open on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. Watch for notices. Every Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m, “Notes & Recollections” may be purchased from the Niswanders at the Elgin Farmers Market in Veterans Memorial Park. The book is also available at the Elgin Courier office, 105 N. Main St. in Elgin or 512-285-3333 during business hours all week, or from Charlene directly at [email protected] or 512-856-2562.
