Meanwhile, in Texas...

by Jon Burch Photography

Title

Meanwhile, in Texas...

Artist

Jon Burch Photography

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Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

Camp Verde, in southern Texas west of San Antonio, claim to fame includes a charming country store and the legend of Jefferson Davis’s camels.

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 2023 Jon Burch Photography

Uploaded

November 1st, 2023

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