Arizona republican., 1896-05-23
SHIPS 0F THE DESERT Tale of the Early Days in Phoenix. How a Camel Created a Sen-
 Sation. Joe Porterie's Experience as the Proprietor OF Cu-
 riosity

That there are camelS Tn Af1ZOnd IS a well known fact, as they have been seen by a number of people, but the following tale from the Fl Paso Times, giving the experience of Jno. O. Dun- bar, is somewhat magnified, but at any rate is worthy of repetition:
 "Yes, sir" remarked Col. Richard Rule yesterday to a Times reporter, T can confirm the story published in The Times relative to the existence of a herd of wild camels in Ar.Zona, for have the information from perfectly reliable source; from no less person, in- deed, than John O. Dunbar of Phoenix, who enjoys the reputation of being a man of unquestionable veracity. John saw the camels himself and knows that they are there Along in the eighties John Dunbar was editor and proprietor of big livery stable in Phoenix. He had heard the story about wild camels browsing on the plains of Arizona and being a man full of resources and en- terprise he conceived the idea of secur- ing a few camels to be used as trans ports in hauling commercial tourists and their heavy trunks around to the different villages of the territory, and also for the purpose of carrying ores and heavy machinery. These ships of the desert, Dunbar argued, would not only prove a paying inVes tment as means of transportation, but would advertise his livery stable from Maine to California. Finally one of his agents captured a big bull camel and Dunbar paid $200 for it. The beast reached Phoenix at night and dined sparingly on two bales of hay. Next morning when the animal was lead into the stables there was a stampede among the horses and they wrecked the es- tablishment getting out, nor could a single horse be induced to return to the stables while the camel was there. Realizing that he had to give up the camel or his livery stable, Dunbar tried to give away the camel, but there were no circus managers in Phoenix, so John decided to lead the animal out of town and turn it loose But no sooner did he make his appearance on the streets with his ungainly ship of the desert' than twenty teams ran away, smashing up as many buggies and wagons, and cr:ppling number of people. The public started after Dun- bar and his camel with guns and clubs but Dunbar backed the beast into a va cant store room, nailed up the door and then proceeded to settle with the crowd in good hard cash, for the dam- age done. To avoid having to pay for every vehicle, horse and burro in the city. Dunbar realized that the camel q to hn of under the cover of night, so that night he contracted to pay two Indians $10C each to take the brute 100 miles from Phoenix and keep it away. And ] want to tell you, John Dunbar's camel experience affected his whole after life One day he was attending a camp meeting near Phoenix, when some over zealous, but misguided brother, in the same corner, with voice like a steam calliope, commenced singing, "The Campbells Are Coming" The words struck on John Dunbar's ear like g bugle note of warning and he cut a swath through that congregation fully ten feet wide. He swept out of that tent like a cyclone, trampling on men women and children. Soon after that John drifted into journalism. The camel had most deinoralizing effect on his life.'
 The above story is all very well fol bit of truth and a large section of fic. tion, but the camel. referred to is pos. sibly the one that was owned by Joe Porterie in the early eighties and wa: one of the band that had been turned loose on the desert Joe came into pos session of the camel in this way:
 An Apache scout named Pete Le