I understand that Camels can carry more and walk farther than horses, particularly in desert climates, which would make them much better for hauling cargo across the American West during its expansion. I also understand there was an experiment done just before the Civil War which actually proved to be successful, but it was never picked up again by the government because of its associations with the confederacy.
Apparently most of the camels used during the experiment were sold at auction, so what happened to those that were sold? Were there no big private organisations that decided to use them? Would they not have been useful as stagecoach drivers for example? Or on ranches? And what about the ones that escaped? Is there any particular reason that wild camels didn't become more commonplace since they would be well suited to that habitat?
I know there's a lot to unpack there but thank you in advance if you can answer any or all of these questions!
The Times Colonist is a newspaper printed in the capital of the Canadian province, British Columbia. It made its boisterous and definitely not so humble beginnings in Victoria, what was once the capital of the crown colony of Vancouver Island and later the capital of British Columbia when the two colonies joined together. It got it's start as a daily paper called The British Colonist and has been in print since 1858. This newspaper has been digitized and made every paper it has ever printed is available to us in THIS ONLINE ARCHIVE. This incredibly valuable resource provides us with a first hand look at the daily occurrences of a.busy town surrounded by Indians, gold rushes, fur traders, marine shipping, homesteading and other important events of the era.
In the March editions printed of 1862 we can read of actions that took place in the American Civil War- about 10 days after they had happened, read of shipwrecked sailors being saved by coastal Indians, of another group sailors who deserted their ship and took advantage of the Indians in order to make their escape see daily shipping reports, settlers gripes and advertisements for day to day keeps, auctions and even a government' call for tenders to build a 18 foot wagon road into the interior of British Columbia. The March editions also introduces the voyages of "Brother Jonathan," the ship that brought the man responsible for the major smallpox epidemic that killed up to 60%of British Columbia's Indian population and later editions that year kept it's readers posted on the progress of this horrible event. But I digress.
On the first of March, 1862, among the adds showing draft oxen for sale, horses and mules for auction and even a man looking for his stolen saddle we see a paragraph that begins with The "Camels" are Coming. It reads as follows :
The "Camels" are Coming - Twenty five dromedaries are advertised for sale by Mr Walton. A chance us thus offered Cariboo packers to obtain animals suited to their purpose at low figures. The advantages possessed by the camels over all other pack animals are too well known to require a newspaper pull," but their greatest recommendation to Cariboo packers appear to lie in their long legs, which will enable them to breast deep snow-drifts, the merest sight of which would disturb the equanimity of the strongest-nerved or best-conducted jack-ass in British Columbia. After the camels have been disposed of and started for the mines with the first load, we learn that a number of trained whales will be placed on the route between Victoria and Sticker River, carrying freight and inside passengers a la Jonah at reduced rates.
After this tongue in cheek article we can read later in the month that 26 camels arrived in Victoria. One camel escaped and ran wild on Vancouver Island for many years before it finally died. One man bought three and another bought the rest to use packing freight the 580 kilometers (350 miles) from Yale, the head of navigation on the Fraser River to the Cariboo goldfields in Barkerville.
The first trip was deemed a success as the animals could carry payloads of up to 600 pounds compared to a maximum of 300 for mules and 250 pounds for horses. At a time when freight cost a dollar a pound for shipping, letters cost a dollar apiece for and luxury items such as fresh eggs and fruit were worth as much as two dollars each on delivery it is easy to see their potential. As an added bonus the camels could survive, and even thrived on scrub and brush that would starve horses and mules.
Unfortunately the camels had flaws. As one reads through issues of the British Colonist that year problems begin to appear. The camels had bad tempers and miserable dispositions which meant that only a few men were able to handle them and make them work. Fresh eggs were broken. Fruit was crushed. Letters were lost and other cargo was destroyed. The camels feet were soft and soon became sore and tender on the hard gravel. This was overcome by making leather shoes for the camels. These quickly wore out had to be changed every 10 to 15 miles on good ground and even sooner on rough terrain. Camels do not have very good balance and are not able to stand on three legs for any length of time, so their handlers had to unpack the animals before changing their footwear. The camels feet got soft and tender and some even rotted in the swampy muskeg portions of the trails or during rainy weather. By the end of the first year only a dozen of the original 26 camels survived to see the next summer.
The real end to the use of camels came from another unexpected issue that arose. Camels have a smell to them that terrified horses. There were many reports of terrified horses bolting just from the smell of a camel train. There are reports of horses walking along the narrow, steep and treacherous pack trail through the Fraser Canyon with results fatal to the horses. Pack Horses would jump to their deaths over a cliff before they would come face to face with a camel. One team pulling a stagecoach went crazy and ran into the bushes, destroying the stagecoach and scaring the bejeezus out of the teamster and his passengers. Even British Columbia's first judge suffered the consequences as the horse he was riding on bolted through a thicker where the trees yanked him out of his saddle. As the camels were the cause of much damage and carnage, their owners were held accountable and were sued for damages. These payments for damages soon consumed the profits that the company using the camels earned. When the packers announced their intentions of bringing more camels in for the following year the threats of lawsuits and personal harm put an end to the use of camels as pack animals .
Financial liability ultimately caused the end of using camels as pack animals in British Columbia. Even if finances had not ended their use, the 18 foot wide wagon road funded by the colonial government and completed two (iir correctly) would have rendered them obsolete.
The camels were turned loose in the British Columbia interior and left to fend for themselves. I grew up hearing stories about these wild camels and am led to believe that the last one died around the turn of the century. As to why they never propagated and became large herds here I could come up with a suggestion. I would think that the males would have been castrated in order to make them more docile, like we do with horses, cows, dogs, cats, sheep and other animals today.
I've written previously about the US Army Camels which you mention and touch on a few of the questions you have on their fate, so it might be of interest.