Beale Wagon Road and Survey Expedition; The United States Camel Corps
BEALE WAGON ROAD AND SURVEY EXPEDITION: THE UNITED STATES CAMEL CORPS; ADVENTURES OF CAMELS ON THE WESTERN FRONTIER COPYRIGHT; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (5/10/22) In May of 1856, The Army took delivery of 33 camels and their handlers at Indianola, Texas. In 1857 Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale was tasked with surveying and building a wagon road from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the Colorado River. Lieutenant Beale was not a newcomer to the southwest, having served with Kit Carson in 1846, and an appointment as Indian Agent for all of California and Nevada ( Ferrell,16,17;Getzmann, 140, 284.) What is notable is that the well-equipped expedition used camels for transport. Some 22 camels and their handlers participated in the endeavor. The wagon road would provide another artery for the westward bound immigrants. Though interrupted by hostilities with the Native Americans and the Civil War, the road made a significant contribution to the settlem