Beale Wagon Road
America’s Great Camel Experiment 1857-1858
In the summer of 1857 former Navy Lt. Edward F. Beale was chosen by the Buchanan Administration to develop a wagon road from Fort Defiance, New Mexico Territory (now Arizona) to the Colorado River along the 35th parallel. Secretary of War John B. Floyd also charged Beale with conducting a test to determine the suitability of camels for use by the U.S. Army in the deserts of the American Southwest. To this end, the army issued Beale 25 camels from its herd stationed at Camp Verde, Texas. Syrian and Egyptian camel drivers were hired. Beale was quite impressed with the exotic animals and claimed the experiment a resounding success. Compared to horses and mules the camel could carry a much larger load faster and over longer distances, go farther without water, and subsist on plants that other animals would not eat. With the advent of the Civil War many of the politicians and military men supporting the use of camels went south, and despite Beale’s glowing reports the army dropped the camel experiment.
Marker is on Forest Service Road 100, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
