Camels: The Two-Toed Desert Ships that Helped Explore the West

When most people think of camels, they picture them carrying swaddled nomads across the Sahara Desert. But in the mid-19th century, camels played an important role in the deserts of the American Southwest.

A century and a half ago, the senator from Mississippi, Jefferson Davis, had a novel idea to import camels into the United States to help explorers in navigating the American Southwest. Davis, who would later become the Confederate president, was at first ridiculed for his suggestion. But his idea wasn’t without merit, because the desert lands that later became New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah had just been acquired and they needed to be explored and surveyed.

Outposts in California, which was in the middle of a gold rush boom, needed trade routes established. The unforgiving, dry terrain of the desert would already be familiar territory for camels, whereas mules and horses were not nearly as impervious to the heat and harsh environments. So Davis established the American Camel Corps, bringing over about 120 dromedary (one-humped) and Bactrian (two-humped) camels over from the Middle East and Africa.

Once the animals arrived, the skeptics fell silent. Camels, with their wide, two-toed feet, could move quickly over sand and were astonishingly tough. They could carry loads as heavy as 1,200 pounds, and were much hardier than horses, mules, or even oxen. The desert scrub that other animals found inedible was perfectly acceptable food for the camels, and they could survive for long periods of time between stops for water.

The enthusiasm about the camels began to wane when the Civil War started. Military men grew to despise the creatures, because they frightened horses. They could be stubborn and unresponsive, and they smelled bad. Both sides used them, though, with a herd in California carrying weapons and armament around Los Angeles. There were about 50 camels in Texas used to pack salt for Rebel soldiers.

When the war ended and the country got around to the business of rebuilding, the camels were suddenly unnecessary. The government auctioned off dozens of them in southern California, but many of them were simply released into the deserts of Arizona and Utah. Travelers have occasionally reported seeing stray camels and small herds in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and other southwestern states. One group that had been released into the wild in British Columbia made its way to Idaho. There is even a legend of one giant camel, called The Red Ghost, who wandered the Arizona desert at night with the skeleton of a rider on its back. Camels used to work in the silver mines near Virginia City were sold to a zoo.

Camels and dusty desert landscapes will always go together, and such is the case with the American southwest. From Utah to California, the interest in camels enjoyed a rebirth in the mid-20th century as Americans began to rediscover the fascination with this hardy ship of the desert. In 1959 the editor of the local newspaper in Virginia City wrote a phony article for the front page about some upcoming camel races. After the San Francisco Chronicle took his article seriously and reprinted the information, suddenly the editor was obliged to follow through on his bogus reporting, and organized a camel race.

Today the camel races are still being held annually, both in September in Virginia City and in June in the other camel capital in the U.S., Benicia, California. When on vacation out west, you could choose to trek through the desert on an all-terrain vehicle or mountain bike, but there’s no need to succumb to modern technology when a camel can transport you just as easily and make your trip more of an adventure. The Camelot Adventure Lodge in Colorado gives tourists and travelers the chance to ride through the desert astride a camel, reliving the adventure and intrigue experienced a century ago by former U.S. soldiers exploring the most rugged canyons of the west.