The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-03-15
Last Native Camel Killed.

killed and eaten by the Indians in
una a lew day ago. The venerable
beast wa> one Of the herd Of camcls
brought from A>in Minor many years
aso To carry or. from the rom.tock
mines. - end, the greatest ATTEMPT
1T acriiinaiing foreign animals; ever
made in he nltcd states. II seems
sad that the noble beast the last Of
his irlc -llouli lavc had such AN
lneloiou- end. And set some SYM
patliy must be gi.cn the poor Indians.
for they must have been awfully hun.
.ry to be able to ma>ticatc the tough
seventy five yoar-old camel. BESIDES.
the poor camel would most likely have
died Of slow Starvation in hort time.
for when last seen alive by white men
it was very feeble
Just wh" the man was that thought
81 bringing camclS t" this country
seems To be Il matter Of some doubt
Several men are credited with having
done 50, but even the old d-timcrs
themselves seem to be little tangled
III on this bit Of Western history.
J.. L. Barton. of Prescott, .Ariz.. who
was III the CONS tock at the time, said
he was positive that the late Adolph
Sntro was largely instrumental in
bringing the calncls here. This, how
ever, has been >trcnuou>ly denied.
Dozens Of similar stories are told
about other prominent Caifornians,
but little crcdcncc can be given to any
OF them. But the fact remains that
the camcls were brought here. On all
the othF points connected with this
part of the story the oll-timcrs agree.
| t was III the old days when the Com
stock was in its glory. The days be-
fore the railroad when Virginia CITY
was almost as important town as
San francisco. 1t su happened that a
certain group or mines about twenty
ryc CT thirty miles out Of Virginia
Cry was panning out piles OF rich orc.
1t was impossible to put Il mil! close
!" the mines on account of lack Of
water Mules were put TT the work,
and during the winter months did
fairly we'll, although to feed and care
Tor them was a tcrrorzing expense.
1t must be understood that as dry,
rocky and barren Il 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 siung over the backs CT the ani-
mails. From the first it was apparent
that the mule plan was not success.
In the summer it took about two mules
to carry water for the one that carried
ore. And all the while the animals
kept dying. The intense heat and
dry, sandy air was too much for them,
and they fell by the wayside so fast
that IA new band was required almost
weekly. But the ore had to be car
ried to the mill, for there was mil
lions in it,
At this juncturc some genius sug-
gcstcd that the miners buy ramcls for
the work. So the camcls were bought
ut great expense. Some Of them we're
obtained from the veteran Snowman,
TT. 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 V expected of them. Each
morning they would eat mearrc
breakfast of any old weed that hap
rcncd in their way, drink few gal
Ions of water end were ready for bust
ness. Two bags of ore. each contain
ing between 200 and 300 pounds, we're
strapped to the back over the hump
Of each camel
When the train was ready all strrtcd
oil at once, striking good swinging
gait that was kept up until the mill
was reached. The drivers had moth
ing to do but follow the train. No
stopping for water, no urging, no
| bcatings. The faithful beasts did
their work willingly. When the orc
, was dumped the camclS took another
big drink and were turned loose, being
, permitted to make their way back to
the mine at their own pleasure. Very
. rarely did one Of them fail to be on
hand the next morning, ready to take
, another load to the mill. The camel
train was Il strange sight while Ell
route across the desert. From dis
$ tancc the general effect was that of a
scene from Persia. There was moth
: ing lacking-thc intense blue sky, the
binding white sand and the distant
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