The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1897-07-08
AMERICAN CAMELs.
THE "SHiP OF TIE DEseRTu I'M
PORTED FROM ARABIA AND EGYPT.


In 1852, when millions Of gold were
being mined in California, while thous-
ands of people were crossing the
plains to the new Dorado, and when
u transcontinental railroad was only
a vague dream of few enthusiasts,
Lieutenant Edward B. Beale (after.
ward General Beale) was stationed at
Fort Yuma, between California and
Arizona on the Colorado Desert. A
stream of immigration and freight
passed that way every week. The dis
ease, suffering and frequent death
among the horses and mules In that
dry, solar heat, convinced Lieutenant
Beale that here, Of all places, was
where the camels of Sahara and Ara
bia could be used to advantage. In
connection with Captain Adams, of
the garrison, he wrote at length upon
the subject to Jefferson Davis, Secre-
tary of War
The ideas of the young military men
In the West had immediate and enthu-
siastic reception by the Secretary. A
Commission was soon sent out from
San Antonio. Tex, to Arizona, to as
certain the uses that camels could be
put to in military transportation. The
Commission made favorable report,
and, with Secretary Davis's annual re-
port to Congress in 1852 there was a
request for an appropriation for the
purchase of camels for the War De-
partment.
On March 3, 1858, bill appropriat-
ing $4,000 for the purpose became n
law by the Presidents signature, and
Secretary Davis appointed Major C.
Wayne in December, 1854, to 20 to
Egypt and Arabia to buy seventy-fve
cainels.
Lieutenant Porter and Major Wayne
bought their first camels In Tunis.
From Egypt Major Wayne and Lieu
tenant Porter went lieusurely over to
Arabia. There they bought more
camels of another breed. The expedi-
tion received at Smyrna thirty-three
camels from the interior.
In the Government book Secretary
Davis tells in detail how he instructed
Major Wayne to proceed from Paris
to Cairo, End when he had bought his
camels to bring them to New York on
the Naval Storeship Supply, then under
command of Lieutenant ID. ID. Porter.
Lieutenant Porter's instructions
were to await Major Wayne at some
point in the Mediterranean,
to disembark land force at Beirout
and to see that the expedition was
amply protected against attacks from
the warlike tribes of the interior. On
returning, the lieutenant was to land
his cargo at some point on the coast
of Texas.
The stOreship Supply reached Indian
ola, Tex, on February 10, having lost |
three camels ON the voyage. Those |
that survived We're well, and the whole |
drove was taken under the care Of |
Captain ]. n. Palmer, U. s. A., to
Camp Verde, Texas, there to be kept |
several years. The Suwanee brought |
in a load Of forty one camels on Feb
ruary 10, 1857, and these, too, were |
sent to the interior.
Almost from the first there was diff I
ficulty in grooming and feeding the
In few weeks several |
lied Of unknown diseases, and others
and became unfit for work.
The military officers found 1t hard to
get any hostler to attend to the cam
Els, towards which all the cavalrymen
md troopers took "A violent dislike. The
horses became restive and ugly when
stabbed Or corralled with the strange
beasts. There We're frequent reports
hat a camel or two had broken away
Turing the night and wandered away;
md 1t has been suspected that extra
ordinary zeal was not always put
'orth to find the animals and bring
hem back.
From May 5, 1861. some thirty of the
.amels that had become partly do
nesticated to American ways and
ldapted to the climate of the South
vest, were kept at the United States
orts at El Paso and Bowie, Arlz.
Fhey were fed and cared for at the ex-
,ense of the War Department, but be-
'ause the troopers and teamsters
.o,lld not be got use them in place of
lOrses or mules, and especially be-
'ause of the clums!ness of the har-
less and the unusual labor in packing.
he animals We're seldom used. In the
ast year or two Of their stay at the
,arrison they We're merely pensioners
lpon Uncle Sans bounty, and were
lever brought into service YIN 1861
he herd had increased to forty-fOur
lead. Then the Cival War came on.
nd In the stir of those days in every
ort in the South all attention was
urned to the great crisis. The forts
ell into disuse, and the beasts We're
flowed to wander away at will. They
ravelled in pairs, and sometimes In
lunches Of four and six, across the
Ieserts and into the mountains. Some
ived for years In the Panhandle OF
Texas, and In the Colorado River. In
ONE instances the canels multiplied.
,ut in twenty years most of them died
Imong the mountains or were killed
" the Indians.
At intervals in the last decade sol
iers and cowboys In New Mexico and