A caravan of 24 heavily loaded camels left Fort Davis on Jul. 11, 1859 for a make-it-or-break-it field test in the Big Bend.
The U.S. Army noticed as early as the 1830’s that the climates of the camel’s native habitat in northern Africa and western Asia and the deserts of the Great Southwest were nearly identical. The animal seemed ideally suited for long-distance treks across the vast North Americ…
