The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1894-07-21
UNCLE sAMs CAMEL nERO.
Ar Improbable AntebcIiun Experimont
in Plains TRANSPORTATION.


Az Improbable Antebciium Experimont
In Plains Transportation.
Much picturesque and unfounded
nonsense has been written about al
legged wild camels reported to wander
in herds along the valley of the Gila
river, In Arizona.
"Teamsters along the valley" wrote
one imaginative parngrapher, "havc
much trouble from these beasts, whose
ungainiy figure frighten the mules md
horses so that "reat difficulty in keep
ing them to the trail"
But there is true and interesting
story back of these tales for tenderfeet.
These exotic and mythical beasts that
roam In the romancer's fancy are as
sumed to be descendants from the his
toric herd of camels brought from the
Orient by the government some years
before the civil war, with the idea that
they could be mude serviceable in
transporting army supplies and other
freight upon that nrid region then
known to gcographers as '"rhe Great
American Desert"
They were purchased principally ut
points along the Bombay coast, and
were fne animals of their kind.
Naturally these numbering Asiatic
burden-hearers proved worthless for
any purpose under the conditions pre-
vailing in the southwest The Atneri-
can language, even with It's Texas re-
inforcements, afforded voca bulary
alike inadequate and unsu!ted to the
directing of these ships OF the desert.
z.,l In, -1,o o1Yor
horribly, threw down his whip. and
reached for his gun when the sugges.
tion wus made that he turn camel
driver.
The cowboys eyed them from dis
tance criticnll, and disapprovingly,
passed facetious and disparaging re.
marks, and would none of them.
Only the fezzed ana turbaned Arab
drivers brought with the camels to the
United States could handle them, and
lacking assistants, they could do little
in the way of utilizing the animals for
freight carrying
So the cames and their foreign
swarthy attendants were still useless
national churge in Texas when the wal
broke out, and the strange, hump.
backed. lop-lipped beasts. with other
federal property, were seized by the
confederates who in this case found
that they had the equivalent of several
elephants on their hands.
They couldn't use them, they didn't
want to kill them and so throughout
the war the cameis remained corralled
and fed at u confederate post. which al
the close of the struggle fell again intt
the hands of the union government
with its troublesome churgc augment
| ed in numbers by natural increase.
This fostering of the camel hero
again upon the federal government il
said to have been regarded by the Tex
ans as q redecnling feature in the col
lapse Of the confederacy. The camels
unalniability and intractabiiity had no
improved. but quite the reverse, through
their long period of inactivity.
The difficulties of attending to then
threw the perils of mulewnacking fa
| into the shade. and were regarded ~
partaking of the hazard of battle
When political connections had some
what quieted down, in the reconstruc
ti,n period so that matters OF detail
could be attended to- the camels, by or
der OF the secretary OF war, were sol,
to the highest bidders, and SO wer
gradually disposed of to keepers o
menageries throughout the country.
There was one exception, An ex
army officer relates that while he wa
stationed at Fort Union, N. H.. twenty
five years ago. the last survivor OF th
herd wandered about on the reservu
ton, the unsailing wonder Of the Mes
leans, as, standing on the ground Ii
browsed on the weeds and grass tha
grew on top of their fat, earth-roofed
one-storied huts
MeXicans made up family parties an
travelled long distances to see the beast
but regarded 1t always with distrus,
crossing themselves at its approach an
uttering PRAYER against eel diablo."
OF what became of this lone survive
thcn there seems to be no record NOR
than of the Arab drivers. These nj
tive drivers were lost to sight in the e,
; element of the cival war.
Thew were perhaps sent back at go'
arnment expense, or otherwise, foun
their way to their own country; Other
may have followed the ca,nels tn;
were sold and have become employees
menageries; 1t is probable thut son
of them now might be found anon
the oriental peddlers who find ii
Spanish speaking southwestern region
SO attractive field for !hei- husines
IN. Y. Sun.