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April 2006 Newsletter
Howdy folks...
There’s something very exciting I’d like to share with each of you.
This May marks the 150th anniversary of the importation of camels by the US Army in 1856. Some good friends and I are planning a "camel drive" to commemorate the event, starting at the old port city of Indianola, Texas and ending up in Camp Verde, just south of Kerrville, Texas. The dates are May 20 through June 11.
One part camel trek, one part reenactment and one part mobile education program, this endeavor is very dear to my heart. The following gentlemen are all co-organizers of the event and will be coming and going from the caravan as work and family schedules will allow.
Longtime friend and Texas Camel Trek guide Steven Evans will be wearing the hat of civilian camel driver. With a master’s degree in range and wildlife management, Steven will be addressing the ways the Texas landscape has changed (or hasn’t) in the last century and a half.
Gilbert Tafolla Hernandez ("El Barbon") is a descendant of one of the locals hired to herd camels through the Texas Hill Country back in the 19th century. Gil’s great-great grandfather was assigned to Camp Verde off and on from 1855-1863 as a civilian and soldier for both the Union and Confederates. Gil is a real character and brings the love of his family’s history to the drive and will entertain all that come in contact with him.
Also on board is Dr. James Jensen, DVM of Texas A&M University. Dr. Jensen is at the forefront of exotic animal medicine and is an avid camel lover. He has been taking care of my camels for the past 7 years and I am truly honored to have someone of his distinction along for the camel drive. His presence will ensure that the camels’ health is monitored daily and that all of their needs are met.
Jim Hale, of the American Camel Company, will be aboard with a handful of camels and will be integral to the Internet presence of the caravan. Jimmy’s got one foot stuck in the desert with his camels and the other firmly planted in cyberspace. His family has been breeding camels for almost 40 years in the US and represents the best camel bloodlines in the country. Check out Jim’s website at www.americancamelcompany.com
Matt Lyles, Texas Camel Corps’ webmaster, will be directing the web presence of the caravan, organizing daily journal updates and logging images from the trail. Matt is a high school math teacher in Gatesville, Texas and has been keeping the Texas Camel Corps website up and running since its debut in 2000.
Sidi Amar Taoua is a Tuareg tribesman from the African country of Niger. Born and raised in the Sahara desert, but living in the US for the last few years, Sidi Amar will be a walking social studies class! He is known for his love of the Tuareg people, their culture, history and most of all their future. His interests include the safeguarding of indigenous cultures and the survival of nomadic peoples. See his website: www.saharaexpedition.com. Another of Sidi Amar’s Tuareg friends, Moussa Albaka, will also be along and I’m sure that we American camel folks will learn plenty from these two wonderful men.
Me? I’ll be in the uniform of the United States Army, circa 1856, barking orders, but with very little bite.
It is important that I mention this is not a money making endeavor for the Texas Camel Corps (is anything I do a money making endeavor?!). In fact, ever since I first discovered this quirky bit of history about pre-Civil War America as a zoo keeper 12 years ago, I’ve imagined this grand procession shuffling through Texas.
That said, there are ways that you can participate, but there are limited spaces available. This email is going out just a few weeks ahead of the official press release, so it’s my hope that the small number of participant slots will be filled by folks from this email list- people who have long shown interest in my camels and their exploits.
For the fee of $50 per day you can join up with the caravan. This money will not go toward commemorative t-shirts, bumper stickers or souvenir key chains. All proceeds will go to fuel camels, vehicles or people. For your $50 you’ll be A. fed B. put to work C. greatly appreciated and D. a part of history.
There are only 3 spaces per day available for guests to come and take part. This will not be a 200-mile camel ride. Most of the time will be spent on the ground (this is particularly important as we’ll be paralleling major highways), driving the camels, laden with supplies.
Participants will have to arrange for their own transportation to and from the caravan and are not required to wear period clothing, but may if they choose to do so. Duties may include, but are not limited to: grooming, saddling, loading gear, leading camels; appearing before the media (my apologies to those of you in the Federal Witness Protection Program); driving pickup truck/trailer (no CDL required); setting up/breaking camp; cooking meals; helping to present public programs at schools/civic clubs.
If you’d like to support the event, but can’t be there in person, a $10 donation (roughly the cost of a bale of hay in drought-stricken Texas these days) is appreciated. For involvement at any level (don’t I sound like the PBS pledge-drive guy?!) email me for details.
Above all, it is our sincere hope that the commemoration honors the history of the US Army Camel Corps, brings edification to those who come in contact with the caravan and that the 8 of us don’t kill one another over the 23 days.
I look forward to hearing from each of you regarding this historic event!
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Now to the month in review:
On March 7th and 8th, camels Gobi, Richard, the young up-and-coming Ibrahim and I were honored to be a part of the Smith family spring break in Monahans Sandhills State Park for an overnight trek.
Byron, Joanna, Blake and Rachel seemed to have a great time, with dad Byron earning the "Camel Master" award for taking on the novice Ibrahim. Byron had no trouble hobbling, packing or leading the 3-year old, named for one of my very favorite Bedouin friends from Sinai. Hiking through the dunes is tough enough, but having to look after a camel adds another dimension to it entirely.
At one point, Rachel got in front of Ibrahim as he was coming down a rather steep dune and was "kneed" out of his way. Both Rachel and Ibrahim emerged unscathed.
Both kids seemed to really enjoy riding Gobi and we got lots of great pictures. I think Rachel and Blake probably had the coolest spring break story when they headed back to school the following week.
I was very proud of Ibrahim. His only real work to date had been some light packing around the farm and 4 days of film work last fall, but I felt the time was right for him to make the jump to the dunes. What a champ! I love my little white camel.
Big thanks to mom Joanna for dreaming this trip up for her family!
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The 15th through the 24th I was in Arizona working with VisionQuest camels (www.vq.com) and a dozen or so girls from their Madalyn program. I was really proud of how the girls worked with the camels, fully two-thirds of them getting confident enough to go on an off-property day ride. The others got a short ride on the 100-acre ranch one afternoon.
Working with teenage girls can be pretty tough, but when they’re in placement, not necessarily wanting to be there, I’ve really got my work cut out for me. The camels, though, in the end are the real heroes. Each young lady really took to her camel, loving it and caring for it, once initial fears were overcome. 2,000-pound animals can be intimidating simply standing there.
April will take me back to Arizona, this time working with boys. Young men seem to take to the camels a bit quicker, but there are still issues to deal with. While girls are just plain scared, the boys have to get past the idea that these are animals that have to be "conquered". Either way, I try to teach them that the only way the camels and they are going to make it through the desert is if they understand and get to know one another. "It’s never this," I tell them, pointing to their biceps, "It’s this," I say, pointing to their hearts.
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While in the Grand Canyon State, I had the distinct honor of sharing one of my Arizona camels, Chewy, with the folks at the Hillel Foundation on the campus of the University of Arizona on the 22nd. The folks at Hillel had a booth on the U of A Mall, promoting Jewish birthright trips to Israel. Chewy patiently posed for 300-plus photos over the 4 hours we were there among the Wildcats. See http://wildcat.arizona.edu/news/2006/03/23/News/Israel.Comes.To.Tucson.In.Hillel.Event-1714190.shtml for highlights.
We met a lot of interesting people and saw some familiar faces from the first time we did this, 3 years ago. Good friend and U of A employee Lynn Kot helped out tremendously as we walked Chewy onto the Mall from many blocks away (thanks Lynn!). Lynn and I met the first time Hillel hired me, while she was playing hooky from work! Lynn would ultimately make a trip to Sinai with me and generously allowed the use of some of her photos from that trip for my website’s Sinai page.
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On the 26th and 27th, I headed back to Monahans Sandhills State Park for a trek with father and son Nathan and Nicholas, from Arlington, Virginia.
Not 20 minutes into the overnight trek I told them that they were good luck. The wildlife sightings, or at least evidence of wildlife, were more than I’ve seen on any trek before. Of course, in the dunes there are myriad footprints, but the real highlight for me was finding a small oak tree used by a bobcat as a scratching post. Both really seemed to enjoy the interpretive aspects of the trip and quickly became adept at identifying the yucca, cholla, prickly pear, mesquite and oak that grow in places among the dunes.
They also became quite familiar with the prints of the kangaroo rat, whiptail lizard, roadrunner and coyote (insert Warner Brothers joke here). Prints don’t last long in the ever-shifting dunes, especially with the winds kicking up to 25 miles per hour, but Nathan and Nicholas, the only 12-year old Lawrence of Arabia fan I know, emerged triumphant.
Thanks to these two fine fellas for a really memorable trip.
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March 31 and April 1 camels Virgie, Ibrahim, donkey Hamar and I were in Uvalde, Texas for Ft. Inge’s Annual Living History Days. This frontier fort was established in 1849 and was visited by the historic U.S. Army Camel Corps in 1857 with the Beale Expedition as they made their way west, leaving San Antonio, headed to California surveying a wagon route that would ultimately be paved over and become Route 66.
My good friend Gil T. Hernandez (mentioned in the camel drive above) was present and exhibited numerous handmade frontier items including weapons, tools, clothing and maps. It was a real treat to spend time with him as he shared his family’s wonderful history with all who were in attendance.
Friday the fort was open just for school groups and many area 4th graders and home schoolers were on hand. It’s great to see the kids’ reactions to the camels. All ears and eyes were open and Gil’s mesquite-handled hatchet might have been as popular as Virgie and Ibrahim.
Hamar ("donkey" in Arabic) did a great job, too! Most of the time, we left him and the camels hobbled, grazing around the parade ground. I had Hamar loaded with a packsaddle and some burlap bags filled with blankets and occasionally hopped on his back and rode around the fort. Great donkey, that Hamar!
Big thanks to Bill Dillahunty and all at Ft. Inge. This is our third or fourth year now with this event and it’s always a true pleasure to be a part of it.
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April 3 and 4 I had the honor of hosting Pam LeBlanc of the Austin American Statesman newspaper for a trek right here on the farm. What a great time!
Pam and I loaded up all we’d need for the night in the neighboring cow pasture on Gobi. We saddled Ibrahim and decided he’d be our "firewood" camel- I knew of a mesquite tree that would be on our route and we’d planned to load him up with deadfall.
Both camels did really well and Pam became quite an effective hobbler of little Ibrahim. We paused from time to time to look at critter holes or the odd wildflower and would simply let the two camels graze about while we explored.
After about 90 minutes of hiking, we arrived at a pretty area with some trees, part of an old cattle pen, now in complete disrepair. It was adjacent to what looked like a round, concrete water trough. The "trough" turned out to be an open well, filled with water. What a discovery! Maybe 15 feet down, we could see our reflections in the water, surrounded by the rock underground. In the concrete above ground was the date 1943.
We unloaded the camels, hobbled them and sent them out to graze/browse, then pitched tents and I began building a fire. Our area has only recently come out of a burn ban due to dry conditions, so it was nice to not have to cook on gas. The fire was started with one match (hooray for me!), igniting some dead yucca leaves I’d picked up along the trail earlier. This is a great survival tip for anyone who ever is in need of reliable tinder. The broad, brittle base of the leaves are perfect for starting fires and this variety of yucca, known as Plains yucca can be found from Central Texas all the way north into Nebraska. Supper was my "famous" cactus soup and Pam, already a nopal (Spanish for cactus) fan, enjoyed two bowls. This always makes the chef happy.
After the meal, we were entertained by Bedouin singing and flute playing, courtesy of some recordings I’d made on a couple of my recent Egypt/Sinai trips.
It was a beautiful night and we elected to keep the rain flies off the tents. Stars came and went behind some clouds and the crescent moon offered occasional light. The camels, ruminating nearby, were tied to a couple of old fence posts and hardly made a sound all night. The neighboring ranch’s cows and some coyotes were the only noises I heard.
Breakfast the next morning was chorizo and egg burritos, some fruit and hot chocolate. The camels got to go out and graze a bit before being loaded up, this time sans the 10 gallons of water we’d started out with. We’d used about 5 for cooking, washing, drinking and putting out the remaining coals from the fire; the other 5 I donated to the well. In backpacks Pam and I carried 2-3 liters apiece for drinking.
The way back was uneventful, Pam riding Gobi with Ibrahim tied behind and me taking pictures. Our time together was really enjoyable and Pam says she’ll let me know when we can expect to see the trip in print.
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Thanks as always for your interest in my camels. I look forward to hearing from you.
Doug
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