A monument to a camel herder in Quartzsite, AZ

Who would think that a Greek camel herder would be hired as a camel herder in the US Army in Arizona? Hi Jolly, also known as Philip Tedro and Hadji Ali, was hired in 1856 and became one of the first camel drivers ever hired by the US Army to lead the camel driver experiment in the Southwest, per Wikipedia. Hadji Ali worked as a camel breeder and trainer and served with the French Army in Algiers before signing on as a camel driver for the US Army. Ali was one of several men hired to introduce camels as beasts of burden to transport cargo across the “Great American Desert”.  Wikipedia states 33 camels were brought over, on one of the signs in the cemetery shows 74 camels were used for a few years. Either way, I bet it was quite a site to behold!

You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them. 

According to Smithsonian.org, they know what happened to at least one camel; a white-haired camel named Said. He was Beale's prized riding camel during the expedition west, and at Fort Tejon, he as killed by a younger, larger camel in his herd.  A soldier, who also served as a veterinarian, arranged to ship Said's body across the county to Washington, where it could be preserved by the Smithsonian Institution.  The bones of that camel are still in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History. For the Smithsonian.org story:  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/whatever-happened-wild-camels-american-west-180956176/

Picture and article from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/camelot-121505856/