The United States Camel Corps was an experiment by the U. S. Army around the middle of the 1800’s which involved using camels as pack animals in the Southwest. The U. S. Army procured and delivered 34 camels from Greece, Turkey and Egypt in 1856 and delivered them to Indianola, Texas. Soon after, an additional 40 camels were delivered to American soil and the U. S. Army led the large herd to Camp Verde near Kerrville, Texas. The Army led them on several expeditions and found them to be more reliable than mules. Experienced handlers from Greece and Turkey joined the soldiers on the trek, teaching the Army the art of handling camel
They utilized the camels in this manner for about a decade as the caravans journeyed across the Southwestern U. S.. However, the project was abandoned at the end of the Civil War. The Camels were auctioned off and distributed throughout California, Nevada and Arizona as part of freighting operations.I had never heard of this until Barbara and I made a trip to the Big Bend area and found evidence of the experiment on several signs. This caused me to study the operation a little more and I found it to be an interesting idea.
This is the marker we found as we started our 2003 trip to the Big Bend and the towns along the way. There is so much history in these towns and this unique area that so few people have ever heard about. My tale will probably sound like the trail we covered, long, Godforsaken and dry. It will contain things we have visited before but never had gotten all the story. I will try to correct that now.
Most of our journey takes place in a small part of the Chihuahuan Desert, an area covering parts of Mexico, West Texas, parts of the middle and lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower Pecos Valley in New Mexico. We stayed just in the Big Bend area, even though you can see 200 miles into Mexico from the top of the Chisos Mountains (near Emory Peak) where we spent one night in a lodge. We had visited the area before, but in many places, it has made some changes.We began our trip from San Antonio and drove on I-10 to Fort Stockton where we took the road to Marathon before dropping off into the Big Bend area of Texas. We stopped and had lunch at the Burnt Biscuit Restaurant in Marathon and then took Hwy 385 to the Big Bend area. The countryside is arid but has it’s own beauty. You will know when you enter Big Bend because there is a sign to announce the fact.
The Chihuahuan desert is such a large area of land that it almost indescribable in it’s vast blessings of beauty that you will find no other place on earth. We saw a sign that mentioned that this is Texas’s badlands.
Not only is it a lonely and isolated area, it had many plants that are native to the area. One of these is the Candelilla or wax plant which was used to make gum before other methods were developed.
Getting near to the Chisos Mountains presents a sight to behold as they take your attention from the desert to their rising heights.
Among these is the Casa Grande Mountain which really stands out and is above the others. Although Emory Peak is the highest point, Casa Grande is as impressive,
We went to Santa Elena Canyon and then back to Terlingua, Texas
and then to Alpine and Marfa. Alpine is the home of Sul Ross College and a really interesting city with many stores and shops for tourist.
Marfa is also an interesting place for several reasons as the Marfa Court House is more of a museum than just a law center. Most of this is due to the fact that the Edna Ferber novel was made into a movie. ‘Giant’, a George Steven’s production was made in 1956 near Marfa and it’s stars, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, and Chill Wills made Marfa their home for several months during the production and Marfa has capitalized on the success of this epic movie. Also, the ‘Marfa lights’ (or Marfa ghost lights) has brought so many people to nearby Mitchell Flat where they attempt to see the paranormal phenomena. Scientists have a more normal explanation of the flickering lights which are occasionally observable.
These facts, plus the placement of a Prada store (more like a statue) between Marfa and Valentine only add to uniqueness and strangeness of what the area offers.
We got back on I-10 at Fort Stockton and drove back to San Antonio as we had seen this trip from a different perspective than in past trips.
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