| What makes it historical? |
On February 10, 1857, a herd of 41 camels arrived at Indianola, Texas aboard the USS Supply, and with them came Philip Tedros, who went by the name Hadji Ali! They were the second imported herd meant for Secretary of War Jefferson Davis’ experiment to use camels as pack animals while building a wagon road across the hot deserts of New Mexico and Arizona! American soldiers quickly gave Mr. Ali the much sillier sounding nickname of “Hi Jolly!”
Under the command of Lieutenant Edward Beale, the Camel Corps helped lay the groundwork for the Butterfield Overland Mail Route, but only until the start of the Civil War when Jefferson Davis became the president of the Confederacy. The camels were turned loose to fend for themselves in the desert, and “Hi Jolly” settled in Quartzsite to mine, deliver mail, and sell water to travelers! |
