The Arizona sentinel., 1902-12-24
Hi Jolly Gone.

Hi Jolly, the man who introduced camels into Arizona for freight carry ing purposes, died at QuartZsite, Yuma county, on Tuesday, the 18th instant, aged over 70 years. The name of Hi Jolly recalls the days when Yuma was the entrepot of all Arizona. All sup plies came from San Francisco. At the mouth of the Colorado they were transferred from the ocean vessels to the river steamers and by them brought to Yuma, from whence they were hauled by freighters to different parts of the territory. Fort Yuma was an important military post in those days and thousands of tons of govern ment freight was landed here to re- main. The freighters in those times made money-but not quite so much as the steamboat line, whose carrying charges were something appalling. The rates we do not recall, but the charge was so much per square foot and payable in gold. Weight was not so much considered as bulk. The gOy- ernment used to ship in good many wagons and horses, and in determining the transportation charges the steam boat company measured wagon, for length, from the end of the tongue to the rear end of the bed, the latter be- i,acr hn6 loT f.,r, Il f. swell the figure, and the height was obtained by raising the tongue to perpendicular position and measuring from the ground up. The length of a horse was from the end of his tail, strengthened out, to the point of his nose, the height being from the ground to the end of the tail held in perpen- dicular position, alice same wagon tongue. The dimensions thus obtained were enormous, but in perfect harmony with the tariff sheet, which was mod eled on the same lines. The business of the steamboat company was almost as profitable as that of some of the more modern monopolies of today.
 It was in 1872 that Hi Jolly landed from steamboat at the foot of Main street with his herd of camels, (abOut 5O) and proceeded to drive them up through the center of town. Main street was lined with Americans, Mex jeans and Indians, and the astonish- ment of the latter, especially, was very great. Jolly's camels had been brought by him all the way from Arabia. The reputation of the Arabian camcls for endurance, strength, and the length of time they could go without water, had imbued Jolly with the idea that they would soon bring him a fortune here in freighting across the desert country. but he was doomed to disappointment. It turned out that the camel required more food than the horse, and to pack almost as much food as freight was un- profitable.
 To sum it up, the Arabian camel, as freight carrier in Arizona, was inn practicable, and Hi Jolly's hopes of fortune in this direction fell to the ground. One day he drove the hump backed beasts from his corral and they were left from that time on to shift for themselves. Grain and hay were too costly then to waste on a useless camel, and so the herd wandered away and soon disappeared. There have been stories published that the camels multi piled and became quite numerous in the southwest, but there is probably no foundation for the yarns. Most of the herd doubtless perished on the des- ert. but it is we'll authenticated that few were picked up by prospectors, who afterward sold them to travelling me- nageries.