Military officials in the United States imported over seventy camels from the Mediterranean and Middle East right before the Civil War to serve as elite pack animals for the army in the harsh southwestern deserts.

A closer look

Military officials in the United States imported over seventy camels from the Mediterranean and Middle East right before the Civil War to serve as elite pack animals for the army in the harsh southwestern deserts. The United States Camel Corps proved to be remarkably successful, as the resilient animals could carry significantly heavier loads than mules while going days without water in the sweltering Texas heat. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Civil War completely derailed the project, and the soldiers ultimately abandoned the incredibly useful creatures because the mules were deeply terrified of them and the handlers hated their aggressive spitting. It remains one of the greatest missed opportunities in military history, mostly because the mental image of a cowboy riding a furious camel through an Arizona shootout is a western movie genre we were brutally denied