The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-01-16
AMERICA'S LAST CAMEL.
He Went to Feed the Indians After a
 Long and Honorable Career.

He Went to Feed the Indians After q
 Long and Honorable Career. The last wild camel in America was killed and eaten by the Indians in
 Yuma few days ago. The veritable beast was one of the herd of camels brought from Asia Minor many years ago to carry ore from the Comstock mines So ends the greatest attempt at acclimating foreign animals ever made in the United States. It seems sad that the noble beast, the last of his tribe, should have such an inglorious end. And yet some sympathy must be given the poor Indians. for they must have been awful hungry to be able to masti- cate the tough, seventy five year-old camel. Besides, the poor camel would most likely have died of slow starvation in a short time, for when last seen alive by white men 1t was very feeble.
 Just who the man was who thought of bringing camels to this country seems to he matter of some doubt. Several men are credited with having done so, but even the old-timers them- selves seem to be a little tangled up on this bit of western history. P. T. Bar ton. of Prescott, Ariz., who was in the Comstock at the time said he was pos itive that the late Adolph Sutro was largely instrumental in bringing the camels here. This, however, has been strenuously denied. Dozens of similar stories are told about other prominent Californians, but little credence can be given to any of them.
 But the fact remains that the camels were brought here. On all the points connected with this part of the story the old-timers agree.
 It was in the old days, when the Con- stock was in it's glory, the days before the railroad when Virginia City was al- most as important town as San Fran cisco. It so happened that a certain group of mines about twenty-five or thirty miles out of Virginia City was banning out piles of rich ore. It was im- possible to put up mill close to the mines on account of lack of water
 Mules were put to the work, and dur ing the winter months did fairly well, although to feed and care for them was terrorizing expense It must be un- derstood that as dry, rocky and barren a desert as there is on the face of the earth lay between Virginia City and the mines. To use a vehicle of any kind was out of the question, and so the ore was carried in bags slung over the backs of the animals.
 From the first it was apparent that the mule plan was not a success. In the summer 1t took about two mules to car ry water for the one that carried ore. And all the while the animals kept dy- ing. The intense heat and dry, sandy air were too much for them, and they fell by the wayside so fast that new band was required almost weekly. But the ore had to be carried to the mill, for there was millions in it.'
 At this juncture some genius sug- gested that the miners buy cameIs for the work. So the camels were bought at great expense Some of them were ob- tained from the veteran snowman, P. T. Barnum and about twenty came direct from Asia Minor, under the care of an agent dispatched from Virginia City.
 From the first the camels did all that was expected of them. Each morning they would eat meagre breakfast of any old weed that happened in their way, drink q few gallons of water, and were ready for business. Two bags of ore, each containing between two hum dred and three hundred pounds were strapped to the back over the hump of | each camel
 When the train was ready all started | off at once, striking a good swinging | gait that was kept up until the mill l was reached The drivers had nothing | to do but follow the train. No stopping | for water, no urging, no beatings. The | faithful beasts did their work willingly. | From The Denver Republican.