How About a Little Kiss?
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
How About a Little Kiss?
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
A camel with a shaggy brown coat is captured in close view, looking directly at the camera with a seemingly content expression. It stands against a backdrop of green grass, underlining its natural habitat.
Before Jefferson Davis became president of the Confederacy, he was the Secretary of War for the United States government. One of his concerns was moving troops and supplies in the great American Southwest, a region where water was scarce and travel was dangerous.
Davis thought he had a possible solution to the problem; he sent the U.S. Navy to Tunisia to bring 33 camels for an experiment in Texas. On June 6, 1856, Major Henry C. Wayne ordered the beginning of the “Texas Camel Drive” from Indianola to San Antonio. The camels eventually settled at a site between San Antonio and Kerrville called Camp Verde.
The experiment seemed to be working; camels carried more weight faster with less water in early tests, but the Civil War brought everything to a screeching halt. Some of the camels escaped or were stolen by Indians; a few were released in California, and others were sold to a circus. For years, wild camels would occasionally be spotted somewhere in the southwestern U.S. or in Mexico.
Some digital effects were applied to the original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition.
Image copyright 2024 Jon Burch Photography
Uploaded
May 18th, 2024
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