In 1857 camels almost won the West

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Local historian Martin Link thinks life would probably be a lot different in this area if the U.S. Army listened to Edward Beale 150 years ago.

Instead of the Ceremonial being the biggest event during the summer months, Link says if Beale had his way, it could have paved the way for the annual Great Gallup Camel Races.

Yes, Beale, a former superintendent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, was a visionary. Unfortunately, not many people shared his vision.

In 1857, President James Buchanan appointed Beale to survey a wagon trail from Fort Defiance, New Mexico — just north of what would become Gallup some 30 years later — and at the same time help the Secretary of War with an idea he had — using camels as pack animals instead of horses and mules.

The idea made a lot of sense, Link said. “A camel could carry 700 pounds, almost four times as much as a mule. They could also exist on Greasewood and cactus, something mules and horses wouldn’t eat,” he said.

So in August and early September, Beale traveled this area getting ready to start the survey along the 35th parallel, which Link said followed the southern boundaries of the Navajo Reservation along much of the same route of the railroad and Interstate Highway 40.

Beale brought 25 camels with him.

After some initial problems with the mules and horses he was taking on the trip as well — they freaked out at the first sight ... and smell ... of the camels — by the time he reached eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, everything had settled down. Beale reported that the camels had done every well, pointing out that the camels showed no signs of tiredness or discomfort while the mules and horses at times appeared weary and out of sorts because of all of the traveling.

While in this area, Link said, people had a chance to view their first camels, and there are reports that Beale led a parade of the camels into downtown Zuni one day.

But Beale would leave his mark on the area. On Aug. 27, 1857, he arrived at what is now El Morro, and like many others before and since, he scratched out his name on one of the walls along with the date. A couple of other men in the expedition joined him.

Beale, who died in 1893, never wavered on his conviction that camels would do well in the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico. But no one was listening.

And the reason, said Link, had more to do with human nature than anything that came out of the tests.

You see, that Secretary of War that first came up with the idea and had Beale do the experiment was ... Jefferson Davis, who four years after the test would step down and become president of the Confederacy.

“It’s like it is here in Gallup, you have someone with an idea who gets on the outs with the administration and no matter how good the idea is, it never goes anywhere,” Link said.