Visitors at the Alamo got a close look Saturday at the sturdy creatures that, for a fleeting period in Texas history, were the U.S. Army’s alternative to horses and mules.
The humped mammals provided by the Texas Camel Corps, raised on a farm in Central Texas, are a curiosity when they occasionally visit the mission and battle site. Families got to pet the animals and hear stories of the Army’s U.S. Camel Corps, which operated during the early years of Texas statehood, from about 1856-1861. During that time, the Alamo’s church and Long Barrack functioned as a quartermaster depot for supplies delivered by camel to Army camps on the frontier.
Camels could traverse the rugged Texas landscape in severe heat, using little water. In 1855, Congress provided $30,000 for the War Department to import camels “for military purposes.”…