Texas Tried Camels

Send us Fan Mail DescriptionTexas tried camels. Seriously.In the 1850s, the U.S. Army had a problem: how do you supply remote forts across the dry, unforgiving country of the Southwest? Secretary of War Jefferson Davis thought he had an answer—camels.And the surprising part is, they worked.In this episode of The Texan Edge, Tweed Scott tells the strange but true story of the U.S. Army Camel Corps, the camels that arrived on the Texas coast, their trials at Camp Verde, and why an idea that actually worked still disappeared into history.Sometimes the problem isn't the solution.Sometimes it's getting people to accept it.And yes, for a while, there really were camels roaming around Texas.Show NotesTexas Tried Camels. Seriously.In 1856, the first group of camels imported for the United States Army arrived at Indianola on the Texas coast.The idea had the backing of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who believed camels might solve one of the Army's biggest problems in the Southwest: moving men and supplies across long stretches of dry country where water and feed were scarce.Turns out, he had a point.In this episode:Why supplying Texas frontier forts was such a challengeHow Jefferson Davis convinced Congress to fund the camel experimentThe arrival of the first 33 camels at IndianolaWhy Camp Verde became home base for the Army's camelsHow the animals performed during Army field testsWhy camels could outperform horses and mules in some conditionsThe problem soldiers, handlers, horses, and mules had with themHow the Civil War brought the experiment to an endWhat happened to the camels afterwardThe stories of wild camels roaming the SouthwestWhy the Camel Corps may not have been the failure history remembersThe camels could carry the load. They could handle the country. They could travel long distances without much water.The idea worked.People just didn't particularly like the idea.And somehow Hollywood has managed to make more than a century of Westerns without giving John Wayne a camel.Probably for the best. This isn't just a podcast, it's a Texas state of mind.