Camels Belong in the Desert, but Nevada?
Which is more exotic, an elephant or a camel? When I was nine, I went to the Indio Date Festival with my girl scout troop. One of the activities we participated in was the elephant and camel rides. I took my decision very seriously and with all the confidence of a sheltered and inexperienced young girl, I ascertained that the camel was a rarer choice. This was a fun memory.
Recently, I discovered that camels have played a part in the history of Nevada, my adopted home state.
It all began in 1865 with a pet project of Jefferson Davis who was Secretary of War (1853-1857). Actually, when Jefferson Davis was a senator, he came up with the brilliant idea of having a Camel Corps. The other senators did not think this idea was “brilliant” and the Camel Corps failed twice; in fact, it was literally laughed out of committee (Shepard).
Alas, Jefferson Davis did not let those other pesky senators stop him. When he had the power to do so, he just ignored them and decided that camels would improve transportation in the desert. So, the Army brought dromedaries to the West in the 1850’s as an experiment and used them to transport supplies (Shepard).
According to historian Mark Hall-Patterson (if you have watched ‘Pawn Stars”, you’ve probably seen him), “Camels were useful in early Nevada because they did well in the desert and could also sustain cold weather. Although haulers had to make shoes for them in rough country because they didn’t have hooves, they could carry a much heavier load that an ox or mule. And they could eat nearly anything (Brigham).”
Come to find out, camels were a huge asset to the mining camps as they were able to haul water, lumber, and salt that was used for processing ore.
Their usefulness was not long-lived, however, as camels proved to be unpredictable. They might be good-tempered and intelligent one minute, then all of a sudden, they would be spitting and kicking; they also had a tendency to scare the oxen and mules causing them to run.
In 1875, the Nevada Legislature decided that camels were no longer desirable and enacted “An Act to prohibit camels and dromedaries from running at large on or about the public highways of the state of Nevada (Brigham).” This law was really irrelevant though, because the railroads had taken over and the use of camels was obsolete.
In case you were wondering, there are no camels running around wild in Nevada.
Sources
Brigham, Noble. “Camels a brief experiment in Nev.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 29 Dec. 2024, pp. 1-2.
Camello Safari dunas Maspalomas. (2005). The amazing characteristics of the camels. https://www.camellosafari.com/92-2/about-camelus-dromedarius-2/alomas.
Shepard, John. Army University Press. (1922-2025). The United States Army Camel Corps 1856-66. www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Directors-Select-Articles/The-United-States-Army-Camel-Corps-1856-66/y Camel Corps 1856-66.