Love it or hate it, the military is often on the cutting edge of technology.
There’s nothing like a good war to get the military to think outside of the box and come
up with new solutions to old problems.
Usually that problem is how can we kill people but like… from a distance.
But seriously, along with things like rockets, the internet and even wifi started off as
a military idea.
Not all of their ideas were winners though.
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In the 1840s, Manifest Destiny was all the rage, Americans were crossing into the west
by the tens of thousands and we were staking claim to basically everything the light touched.
It was one of the primary motivations behind the Mexican American War.
When it became apparent that the United States was about to capture all of this new land
from Mexico, people were already thinking of ways to cross it.
You see, the southwestern United States is a literal desert.
The sarlacc pit from Return of the Jedi was filmed near Yuma, Arizona.
So donkeys, mules, horses, and humans had a hard time crossing that desert due to a
lack of water.
In 1847, before the war was even over, Major G.H.
Crosman and Major H.C. Wayne submitted a report to the War Department, which is now the Department
of Defense, suggesting that camels might be the way to go.
For strength in carrying burdens, for patient endurance of labor, and privation of food,
water & rest, and in some respects speed also, the camel and dromedary are unrivaled among
animals…
They will go without water, and with but little food, for six or eight days, or it is said
even longer.
Their feet are alike well suited for traversing grassy or sandy plains, or rough, rocky hills
and paths, and they require no shoeing…
The report reached the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, which is now known as the
Senate Armed Services Committee, where it was mostly laughed off as ludicrous.
Some senators even said that the desert is too cold.
Which it is believe it or not, but camels live in the desert, they’re already used
to that.
One senator who really took to the proposal and tried for several years to get it implemented,
was Jefferson Davis, a man famous for always supporting good ideas.
In 1853, Jefferson Davis was appointed Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce.
He continued to pressure Congress and the President to allocate funds for a small experiment
to see how viable the idea was, which they finally did in 1855.
Congress granted $30,000 to the project, about $866,000 in 2019 money… which is about one-tenth
of the price of a single M1 Abrams tank.
Davis wasted no time and two months later, Major H.C. Wayne and Lieutenant D.D.
Porter of the USS Supply were sent to the Mediterranean to purchase the first batch
of US camels.
Major Wayne went on his own little side quest to learn about camels first.
He stopped at the London Zoological Gardens to learn about their care and then interviewed
members of the French Camel Corps in Paris.
Yes, there was a French Camel Corps, they just used them to colonize Algeria.
Then he went to the Crimea, where camels were actively being used by the British in the
Crimean War against Russia.
It was there that Wayne decided dromedaries were preferable to camels.
Back in the day, the term “camel” usually specifically referred to the two-humped Bactrian
camel, it was significantly larger and slower, but could carry more weight.
A dromedary is the one humped Arabian camel.
It was quicker, could still carry a considerable load, and was much easier to ride, in fact
Arabian camels had been used for military purposes for as long as the horse.
Some militaries even outfitted them with cannons…
I know that’s just a drawing so you might not believe me.
So here’s a real picture, look at that, that’s awesome!
Ahem, so anyway, Wayne and Porter were ordered to buy several different kinds of camels from
different places in order to test which ones would be suitable in America.
The story of their adventures is actually kind of funny.
They became somewhat experts in the camel trade and were able to refuse gifts of diseased,
worthless camels from the viceroy of Egypt.
Porter even had to construct a “camel deck” on the ship because they were so much larger
than horses.
In the end, they paid about $250 each for 33 camels from five different countries.
Twenty one larger Arabian camels for general hauling, nine swift dromedary camels for chasing
off Indians – direct quote from Jefferson Davis – two Bactrian two-hump camels, and
one Booghdee hybrid camel with only one hump.
A few camels died on the trip over.
But also, a few were born, so in May 1856, 34 camels landed in Indianola, Texas, beginning
the US Camel Corps.
The Texans laughed at Wayne, saying there was no way a camel could carry more than a
mule.
And I’ll give it to them, camels do look pretty awkward.
But in front of a crowd, Wayne loaded four bales of hay, weighing a total of 1256 pounds
onto one camel, and it stood up and walked away without any struggle.
To convey to you the surprise and sudden change of sentiment when the camel, at the signal,
rose and walked off with his four bales of hay, would be impossible.
This was enough to make front page news in Texas.
Mules can carry about 300 pounds, a Bactrian camel can carry up to 1500, one of the larger
Arabians can carry 1000 pounds, and the swifter dromedaries can only carry 700.
Which is still more than double what a mule can carry.
The Camel Corps was stationed at the newly constructed Camp Verde, Texas, about 60 miles
north west of San Antonio.
But it wasn’t just camels that were recruited into the Army.
Major Wayne also hired five Arabs and Turks to help teach the Americans how to properly
care for and ride the camels.
They actually make an appearance in several movies about the Camel Corps.
Praying, caterwauling heathens, that’s what they are.
Don’t seem to matter much how man looks to god, long as he looks.
The most famous of them was Hi Jolly… though his real name was actually Hadji Ali and the
Americans just couldn’t pronounce that.
Though that wasn’t his real name either.
It was actually Philip Tedro, he was a half-Greek, half-Syrian from Turkey, though it wasn’t
actually Turkey at the time, it was still the Ottoman Empire.
But like many people who convert to Islam and complete the Hajj, he changed his name
to Hadji Ali.
Many of my fellow veterans will probably recognize that word as the derogatory term for Muslims.
But it actually just means “someone who has completed the Hajj” the closest Christian
word would be Pilgrim.
Think back, Pilgrim.
So when you call someone a hadji, you’re basically calling them a pilgrim.
Well take some advice, Pilgrim.
Do you know how or when that term became a pejorative?
It comes from Jonny Quest, the 1960s cartoon.
This character is named Hadji, he’s actually Indian, and while there are Indian Muslims,
it’s pretty clear in the show that he’s Hindu.
But you know, all brown people are basically the same, I guess.
Anyway, Hadji Ali or Hi Jolly, was so important to the project that he also appears in every
movie about the Camel Corps.
While we’re performing introductions, let me introduce you to Hadji Ali from Smyrna,
we call him Hi Jolly.
How do you do?
Effendi.
Here you are Hi Jolly, no pork in yours!
Okay!
Hadji Ali’s the name, or if you prefer as your barge driver so quaintly called me, Hi
Jolly!
Ha ha!
Camel instructor extraordinaire, at your service, sir.
The guy playing Hadji Ali in this one is actually Italian, but you know, all brown people…
I sure am glad whitewashing is no longer a thing in Hollywood.
It took the Americans a while to get used to the camels, the saddles are a bit awkward,
and camels are notoriously ill-tempered and stubborn.
They also smell different, not any worse than a horse, but different.
Which always made horses, donkeys, and mules afraid of them because they were this weird
foreign smelling animal, they’d always be restless when camels were around.
It was such a problem that Brownsville, Texas banned them from the city limits.
But Wayne continued to acclimate them and even began running experiments, when it became
obvious that camels weren’t well suited for combat.
They’re unwieldy in close quarters and can’t sprint for very long like a horse.
In short bursts, camels have a top speed of 40 miles an hour, while a horse is only 30,
but can sustain it for much longer.
But the camel did beat the horse when it came to long distances.
During one experiment, he set a team of six camels against a team of six mules in a race
to San Antonio and back while carrying a cargo of oats.
The mules carried 1800 pounds and took five days, while the camels carried 3600 pounds
and took only two days.
That’s double the cargo in half the time.
So it became pretty clear that the camels were much better suited for transporting cargo
as part of a wagon train.
In 1857, Buchanan was sworn in as president.
As a result, Major Wayne was transferred to another post and Jefferson Davis was out as
Secretary of War… but I have a feeling we’ll be hearing from him again . And their replacements
were impressed with the camels so far.
So in June of that year, they were set to the task of helping E.F. Beale create a wagon
road across the 35th parallel, from Fort Defiance, Arizona to the Colorado River.
Kind of like the Southwest’s version of the Oregon Trail.
He took 25 camels with him in the ultimate test of their ability, it’s actually the
plot of every movie featuring the Camel Corps.
Except for Hawmps which is just terrible.
And look what gets off the boat, a bunch of raunchy, mangy… hawmps.
The expedition left in August 1857, and it took a while before Beale really warmed up
to the camels.
They pack their heavy load of corn, of which they never taste a grain; put up with any
food offered them without complaint, and are always up with the wagons…
It is a subject of constant surprise and remark to all of us, how their feet can possibly
stand the character of the road we have been traveling over for the last ten days.
It is certainly the hardest road on the feet of barefooted animals I have ever known.
You see, while horses need horseshoes, camel toes can take quite a beating…
I’m sorry.
The camels travelled 30-40 miles a day, they basically ate whatever they could find on
the trail including cactus, and would go 8-10 days without water.
The horses and mules would start to freak out from thirst after only 36 hours.
Here’s a painting from the artist that went along with the expedition, as you can see,
the horses and mules are basically drowning themselves in the river, while the camels
are just hanging out in the back giving absolutely zero f***s.
Several times during the trip, they got lost while looking for a waterhole and it was the
camels that went out searching that saved the day.
I believe at this time I may speak for every man in our party, when I say that there is
not one of them who would not prefer the most indifferent of our camels to four of our best
mules.
They arrived at the Colorado River in October 1857, which was the biggest test, because
for those of you familiar with fording rivers, things don’t always go your way.
This was compounded by the rumor that camel’s can’t swim.
It’s said that camels can’t.
Is it true that camels can’t swim?
I don’t know, we’re about to find out.
Camels, can’t swim!
No, instinctively afraid of the water.
They can swim, in fact, the older of the two movies shows them doing it…
Okay we’ll just ignore that really bad cookie cutter frame there…
The point is that they totally c- what?!
WHAT?!
I think we’re gonna need CaptainDisillusion to crack this one.
All the camels, fully loaded successfully swam across the Colorado River, which is an
average of 300 feet wide.
Two horses and ten mules drowned during the same attempt.
Beale’s expedition continued to Fort Tejon, California, a distance of 1200 miles covered
in four months.
He left the camels there and retraced his steps a year later.
Extending the road from Fort Smith, Arkansas, through Fort Defiance, Arizona, to Fort Tejon,
California.
Much like the Oregon Trail, Beale’s Wagon Road later became a railroad and then a rather
famous highway where you can get your kicks…
Route 66.
You can still hike the trail and find signs like this.
The camel experiment was declared a huge success.
The Secretary of War petitioned Congress to buy 1000 more camels in 1858, 1859, and again
in 1860.
But then the Civil War happened, starring our old friend Jefferson Davis.
Because of Beale’s expeditions, 31 camels were in Fort Tejon, California, which remained
part of the Union, they were used for local hauling and map surveying during the war.
80 camels were still in Camp Verde, Texas and were captured by the Confederacy.
Many of the camels were abused or even killed, but a few of them were put to use by the Confederate
Quartermasters.
An entire infantry company in Mississippi used a single camel to carry their luggage
around.
Apparently even Robert E Lee was impressed by the camels.
When the war ended, all of the remaining camels fell under US control again, but they didn’t
know what to do with them.
Because the railroad was about to render them obsolete.
The first transcontinental railroad was underway and as a result, people didn’t really do
wagon trains anymore.
So some of the camels were sold at auction.
Camels went to circuses or civilian transportation companies, even Hi Jolly bought a few and
used them for several years.
Others were simply turned loose in the desert.
Wild camels were spotted for decades afterwards, Douglas MacArthur apparently saw one in 1885,
there were sightings in 1901 and 1913, and even one near the Salton Sea in California
in 1941.
But that’s nothing compared to the Legend of the Red G host.
In 1883, a woman in Arizona was trampled to death by a camel who left behind tufts of
red fur, then it terrorized prospectors in the surrounding area and was rumored to be
carrying a dead rider on its back.
Once, a hunter took a shot at it and the head fell off, because why not, right?
It made its way down to Mexico, where it was known as el Fantasma Colorado and was eventually
shot and killed in 1893, still wearing a harness but the rider must have been shaken off.
And because everything comes full circle, legend has it that the rider was Hi Jolly…
even though he was still alive at the time.
Hadji Ali died in 1902 and he was such an important local figure that they put up a
pyramid shaped monument in his honor in Quartzsite, Arizona.
It also contains the ashes of Topsy, the last US branded camel, which died in 1934 at the
age of 80.
One of the other camels’ bones were sent to the Smithsonian and are still on display,
even mentioning its time in the Camel Corps.
The camel experiment was never officially called the US Camel Corps.
But I mean, c’mon, what a cool name.
And because of the success of the experiment camels were imported and used all over the
west by civilians starting their own camel corps small businesses.
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While the military may have been the source of the ultimately failed camel experiment,
the idea was eventually picked up by civilian companies.
Maybe not to the extent that Wayne, Beale, or Davis would have liked, but that’s due
more to the railroad than to the camel.
While you may think it was a silly idea to bring a foreign animal to the United States
to try and change the culture and landscape…
I’d remind you that horses are foreign to America too.
The United States is a nation of immigrants, not only with its people but with its ideas,
we often borrow foreign ideas and make them better.
Hamburgers, pizza, even the car, are all foreign inventions.
The camel was a foreign idea that probably would have worked if not for the bad timing
of the Civil War.
And an even better foreign invention coming along.
Many of the things you probably thought were American aren’t, so take a look around,
you’re surrounded by foreign ideas, which isn’t so bad, because now, you know better.
The State of the Union is on Tuesday, so join us for some group therapy, I’ll also be
at Vidcon London next week so there won’t be a new video for a while.
But if you’d like to add your name to this list of camel jockies, head on over to patreon.com/knowingbetter.
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