Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1915-06-27
ARMY CAMELS
NOT SUCCESS
jefferson Davis Induced U.S..
Government to Make Fu-
tile Experiment

The United States governments drst
aud only venture into the use Of cam
els a. army transports on the south.
western frontier was sanctioned by
congress- through the Efforts Of Jetfer-
son Davis, then a member Of the mill
tary commission and later secretary VI
war. Davis had commanded troops In
the southwest In the Mexican war and
knew what It was to march for days
over a dry. barren country In scorch.
Inv heat with nothing to drink but
hot. dry air and nothing to greet the
eye except cactus and rnttlesnakes.
The rapid development Of California
after the gold strike Of lS4S made nee
essary provision for the transportation
Of troops and supplies to the new coun.
try over n desert trail. which was a
task TINT net patriotism ut a premium.
Jefferson Davis asked FOR camels. and
congress finally authorized an expetii.
ton to the orient to buy them.
The expedition brought back nearly
100 animals. which were added to from
time to time TIL the number grew to
1924 They were stationed at FL Paso.
Yuma. Arix.; San Antonio aud other
points on the frontier.
The return trip across the ocean
with the camels 10 recorded In anus.
ing detail by Lieutenant d. d. Porter.
who was In charge. Each animal was
provided with a competent chauffeur.
who was caretaker, interpreter and bag
gage master In one, Most Of the animals
got seasick. and 40 did the drivers, and
both complained bitterly Of the ar
rangements. Tho camels wished they
hadn't come and showed It by kicking
and biting pieces from various officers.
who were not to blame.
After landing In Texas the camcls
did not Improve perceptihly In their ma
lures, Their particular aversion WIS
the army mules. Even the younger.
inexperienced camels lrirned quickly
to kill a mule with one blow II the
hind foot aud indulgel In that pas-
time frequently. Their taste for army
officers remained undininished. and the
chaufteurs got the blame every time a
captain lost some OF his anatomy.
The soldiers took to the camel with
reciprocal affection. In the first place.
they didn't like his looks. contending
that the soft. faraway look In the cam
els eye indicated that his mind was
not on his business. Then the soldiers
couldn't get used to the otior radiated
by tho oriental beast-circuses not he.
Ing In vogue-and many Of them said
that Kipling was perfectly correct In
his opinion that q camel smelled most
awful vile. Kipling hadn't. said II yet.
but soldiers are farseeing and knew he
was going to say II.
Resides. the camel was NO good TO
ride. the soldiers agreed. His ambline.
rapid stride made them seasick. and
they wanted no animal which Il took
ten minutes 10 awaken when the In.
diana attacked them In the night. No
American had lived up 10 that period
who could tie q cargo On one Of the
beasts % Il would stay on. The cam
el b not constructed dat on top. Il II
remembered. and only clever Arab
chauffeur could load one to travel any
distance without losing the supplies>
The high record In dead mules was
made. Il II said. by q camel In San An
tonic whose name Was Major. MajOs
kicked seven valuable mules into eter-
nifty. and one day some soldiers. friends
Of the late mules, took Major on up on
high eli0 and came back and said he
had fallen OF accidentally. No ex-
haustive probe was made Of Majors
disappearance.
A caravan loaded with supplies went
into the city Of Sutherland Springs ON
one occasion. and the camels we're wa
tered at the town WE'LL Ii was the
boast Of the city that the well had
never gone dry. About half the cam
els took u drink and the web was dry.
The disturbance caused by the remain
ing thirsty eamels set the population
into panic.
But the endless feud between the
canels and the soldiers soon convinced
The government that railroads would
Go lust as we'll The rush to Califor-
mia was well over and frontier trou-
bles were well under control by the
time the war broke out. The govern
meRt withdrew the foreign camel
agents and closed the foreign oflsces.
Ny the time the war was over the cam
els died and some were stolen. Others
escaped to the desert. and even today
hoary Wild camel white with age.
occasionally terrihes Sunday newspa-
per festure writers into writing some
thing about it. Very likely the ones
which didn't 20 to the desert swan
back to Egypt. Both reports are au-
thenticated In the same deSree-Kan-
saS City Star.