When Camels Came Back to Montana: Ellen Baumler
Ellen Baumler explores Montana’s brief experiment with camels during the 1860s. Camels could carry heavier loads, travel farther, and survive harsh conditions better than mules. However, their smell frightened horses and mules, causing dangerous stampedes. Despite their advantages, camels proved impractical for Montana’s transportation system and quickly disappeared from the frontier.
Camels at Missoula: Emily Moore
Emily Moore examines the surprising history of camels in Missoula, Montana, where the animals briefly became part of transportation and frontier life. Although camels were well suited to carrying heavy loads across difficult terrain, they frightened horses and proved unpopular. The article highlights this unusual chapter in Montana’s transportation history.
The Camel Pack Trains in the Mining Camps of the West: William S. Lewis
William S. Lewis traces the use of camels in western mining camps during the 1860s, emphasizing their impressive carrying capacity and endurance. Camel trains transported freight, gold, and supplies through Montana, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. However, their tendency to frighten horses and mules caused accidents, opposition, and eventual abandonment.
Montana Oil and Mining Journal. (Great Falls, MT), Apr. 27 1940
Article is on page 2. The newspaper articles talks about how camels were not imagined, but had indeed been used in the PNW as pack animals, followed by a few anecdotes.
The American Camel Experiment: A Repeappraisal (1966): Thomas L. Connelly
Thomas L. Connelly reassesses the U.S. Army’s 1850s camel experiment, arguing that camels performed remarkably well as pack animals in the American Southwest. Their failure was less a result of practical shortcomings than political and military circumstances. Connelly challenges earlier interpretations that portrayed the experiment as simply impractical or unsuccessful.
The Great Camel Experiment: Harold Schindler
Harold Schindler examines the U.S. Army’s 1850s camel experiment, emphasizing camels’ extraordinary ability to carry heavy loads and travel long distances without water. Although successful military tests demonstrated their usefulness in the Southwest, the Civil War ended the program. Some camels entered private service, becoming scattered curiosities across Utah and Nevada.
A Contribution Towards a Bibliography of the Camel: William S. Lewis with additions by A. A. Gray and Francis P. Farquhar
William S. Lewis, with additions by A. A. Gray and Francis P. Farquhar, compiles an extensive bibliography documenting camels in the United States. Focusing especially on their introduction and use in Western mining camps, the work identifies books, articles, government reports, and other sources useful for researching America’s nineteenth-century camel experiments.
Camels on the Western Range: James A Young
James A. Young examines the history of camels in the American West, emphasizing their usefulness as pack animals in arid environments. Despite successfully carrying heavy loads and surviving harsh conditions, camels never became established because of cultural resistance, competition from horses and mules, and changing transportation technology. Their experiment ultimately faded away.