The Coconino sun., 1927-11-25

born on the return trip, of which four
/ died, and one died in calving, making
"a camels landed at Indianola, Texas,
May II, 1856.
Both Major Wayne and Lieutenant
project and strongly urged the impor-
tation of a second load. Lieutenant
Porter made this second trip, return
ing Al camels at Powder Horn, Janu-
ary 20, 1857.
Many tests were given the animals,
increasing in severity as they became
acclimated. Major Wayne and the two
Greeks did most of the training, as
the other imported employees soon de-
veloped a nasty hatred for the camels
and preferred to stampede them rather
than to bother with them. The ami
mails were trained at San Antonio,
which point Major Wayne reached
June 19, 1856.
The camel enthusiasts who had ac-
tual care and training of the beasts
were few in number. Major Wayne
was the chief enthusiast. In a writ
ten report, prepared en- route home
from Smyrna, he summarized: They
carry burdens, they are used IN plow-
/ ing, the flesh makes delicious food,
they give milk and their wool is used
! in manufacturing such articles as car
pets, coarse clothes and ropes, they are
reported to travel go miles without
stopping over plains and valleys, in
all kinds of weather, to pasture on
every shrub that grows, even the this
tie and the prickly pear, to travel
three, four and even seven days with
i out food or water, and to carry one
to two Thousand pounds on short
hauls, and three to six hundred pounds
on journeys.
When given fair tests, the camels
gave wonderful results, but the fair
tests were few in number, and rarely
accorded the animals when they were
actually placed in use. The most rabid
statements of the enthusiasts were
taken literally, and fleet dromedaries,
which should in justice have been as
carefully cared for as race horses,
were overfed, overwatered, overloaded
and then sent racing across the des-
ert. The animals which were given
proper attention were healthy, strong
and capable, thriving on the desert
fare and increasing in numbers.
One of the most important tests
ever given the camels was the cross
country trip of Edward F. Beale from
Fort Defiance to the Colorado river
and back in 1878. While he stated
that at first they appeared tired" !"
he later wrote, my admiration for
the camels increases daily with my
experience with them. The harder the
test they are put to, the more fully
they seem to satisfy all that can be
said of them. No one could do JUS
tice to their merits or value in exped1-
tions of this kind, and / look forward
/ to the day when every mail route
across the continent will be conducted
and worked altogether with this
economical and noble brute"
But his prediction failed quickly, a
II series of causes contributing to the
failure of the enterprise. The sand
of the southwestern desert differed
from that of Africa, being more OBJ
long and crystalline than the round
sand of Africa, and tended to hurt the
camels' feet when they were heavily
loaded. The ignorance and prejudice OF
most of the people who handled them
however, was far more important in
causing the experiment to fail. The
Civil war, coming when it did, took
interest from the project at time
when careful fostering was needed.
A number of the animals were TAX
en- to Los Angeles to Drum Barracks,
and others were sold to circuses and
menageries. Some Of the camels were
sold to a Frenchman who attempted
to use them in the mines of Arizona,
Idaho and Montana, but they were
soon turned loose to shift for them
selves.
Mule-skinners had a particular dis
like for the camels, and mules and
horses alike showed distinct aver
sion. Whenever one of the soft
paved animals appeared, the horses
and mules would make break, often
stampeding out of corrals, and other
times upsetting wagonloads of goods
in far-off points from the scattered
southwestern communities. Indians
along the ella river valley complained
that the animals were tramping down
their crops, and an open season was
declared on them. The camels were
killed off and driven to isolated parts
of the southwest, but for number OF
years afterwards frequent reports OF
their appearance were made.
The last camel to be captured alive
was that caught by Arturo Carrillo
Tucsonan, when he was but 10 years
of age. The capture was made be-
tween the Harqua Hala mine and the
Vulture mine, while Carrillo was en-
route between these two points with
a mail pouch. He found the camel tc
be tame and after lassoing him, lee
him into town and later took him tc
Yuma, where he attempted to sell him
The camel, however, ate too much
food pending the arrival of circus
so was turned out to shift for him
self.
Other camels were reported as seer
since Carrillo made his catch in 1894
but no others were reported captured
They lost their place in the southwest
lust as the broken wheels of Callfor-
nia-bound covered wagons were lost
in the sands of time, but like the GOV.
cred wagons, they still form pretty
story of Arizona's early days.
CANYON DIABLO HAS
LARGE RABBIT CROP