The Tucson citizen., 1902-05-17
HRlzONR GAMEL,S
CONTINUED from First Page.)

ing. for If he was not rounded up there
was delay of half the next day in
starting the caravan. He could carry
a ton-this was a commendable vir-
tue--but when two heavily laden
''ships of the desert" collided on a
narrow trail, as they always did when
an opportunity offered, and tons of
supplies were scattered over miles of
plain. and the unfortunate camel dri-
vers had to gather up the fiotsam of
the wreck. 1t is not strange that the
mariners of the arid waste anathme-
tized the whole camel race from the
beast the prophet rode down TO the
smallest imp of Jefferson Davis impor-
tation.
The army horses and mules shared
the antipathy Of the drivers for the
Arabian desert trotters. Whenever
one of the hump backed burden bear
ers OF the Orient came trotting along
Jlst Q coral of horses and lifted up
his voice in an evening orison to Mo
manned or some other Turk, every
sc,se of the caballada was seized with
fright and broke loose and stampeded
over the plains.
All of these little eccentricities did
not endear the camels to the soldiers
of Uncle Sans army. He was hated
despised, and often prosecuted. In
vain the officers urged the men to
give the eamels a fair trial. No one
wanted anything to do with the mis-
shapen beast. The teamsters, when
transformed into camel drivers. de-
serted, and the troopers when detail
ed Tor such a purpose fell back up.n
.A".r reserved rights and declt,.eG
there was nothing in army rules and
regulations that could compel Ameri-
can soldiers to become Arabian camel
drivers. So because there was no one
TO load and navigate these ships of the
desert their voyages became less and
less frequent, until finally they ceas-
ed altogether, and the desert ships
were anchored at the different forts in
the Southwest.
1t became evident to the army Off
GERS that the camel experiment was
failure. Every attempt to organize
caravan resulted in an incipient mu-
tiny among the troopers and teamsters.
No attempt was ever made to- utilize
the camel for the purpose that DAVIS
imported him--that of chasing the
Apache to his stronghold and shooting
the Indian full of holes from light ar
tillery strapped on the back of caui-
ell Instead of the camel hunting the
Indian. the Indian hunted the camep.
In some way poor Los untutored an
petite had learned to love camel steaks
and steWS. So whenever an opportu
i''.y offered the Apaches killed the
camels butlthe camel soon learned to
hate and avoid the Indian ,as all Iiv-
ing things learn to do. Some were al
lowed 70 die of neglect by their driv-
ers, others were surreptitiously shot
by the troopers sent to hunt them up
when they strayed away, the troop
er claiming to have mistaken the
woody tufts on the top of the twin
humps Of the camel as they bobbed up
ana down In the tall sage brush for
1he top-knot Of an Indian, and in self
defense to have sent bullet crashing
not into an Indian, but into the anat-
omy of a camel.
At the breaking out of the civil war
some thirty-fve or forty of the camel
bald were herded at the United States
forts-Verde. Ell Paso, Yuma, and
some OF the smaller posts in Texas.
when the eastern forts were abandon
ed BY the government, the camels wers
turned loose to take care of them: |
selves. Those at Yuma and Fort Te- |
JCn were taken to Benlcla condemned !
and sold at auction to the highest bid |
dfr. They were bought by two :
Frenchmen, who took them to Reese ;,