The U.S. Army Almost Brought Camels to the American Southwest
The dromedary camel of the Middle East seemed ideally suited for use in the much untamed American southwest.
The last of the original Army camels, Topsy, reportedly died in April 1934 in Los Angeles at the age of eighty—but other accounts of camel sightings, like the offspring of the original seventy camels, continued for decades as the legacy of the American military camel.
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.
This article first appeared in December 2020.
Image: Reuters