by Traci Reece, Reference Librarian

The current Featured Collection book display in the Reference Reading Room, “Camels in Texas,” was inspired by a recent reference request about a near fatal camel expedition in the Big Bend area.
Eager to identify military supply routes from Texas to California, U. S. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis convinced Congress to approve the purchase and import of camels in 1855 for use on the harsh western frontier. This was the beginning of the “Camel Experiment” in Texas. The camels that arrived at Indianola, Texas in 1856 were housed with their handlers at Camp Verde in Kerr County. Despite successful expeditions throughout West Texas, the camels’ general unpopularity and the onset of the Civil War brought an end to the camel experiment. After Confederate forces captured Camp Verde in Spring 1861, many of the camels were left to roam and fend for themselves and eventually succumbed to hunger and slaughter. Read more about the fate of these members of the “U.S. Camel Corps” in publications available from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission collections.

Tom Lovell, “Camels in Texas,” Oil on Canvas, 37″ x 57″. From Permian : a continuing saga, Elmer Kelton and Tom Lovell, Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, 1985.

Our featured collection, “Camels in Texas,” will be on display in the Reference Reading Room in the Lorenzo de Zavala Texas State Archives and Library building at 1201 Brazos St. Austin, Texas 78701 through March 2020.
See below for a list of titles with links to our online catalog and other electronic resources. For more information about the books and other materials available at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, or to send a reference request, please email ref@tsl.texas.gov or call 512-436-5455.
TITLE |
AUTHOR |
CALL NUMBER |
COLLECTION |
Connelly, Thomas L. Southwestern Historical Quarterly v.69, pp 442-462. |
976.406 SO8 v.69 |
||
Regan, Rex |
813.5 R261c |
MAIN |
|
Earney, Ann. The Texas Historian, v. 38 no. 2, pp 14-22. |
976.406 J959 V.38 |
||
San Jacinto Museum of History Association |
976.405 SA52 |
MAIN |
|
Fowler, Harlan Davey |
979 F829 |
MAIN |
|
Mudambi, Aradhana. The Texas Historian, v.55 no.2, pp 1-3. |
976.406 J959 V.54-55 |
||
Scobee, Barry |
976.4934 Sco15f |
MAIN |
|
Watkins, Clara |
976.4884 W322K |
MAIN |
|
Boyd, Eva Jolene |
636.2 B692N |
MAIN |
|
Hunter, J. Marvin (John Marvin) |
357 H917O |
MAIN |
|
Hart, Herbert M. |
355.7 H251 V.2 |
MAIN |
|
Operation Camel: An experiment in animal transportation in Texas, 1857-1860 |
Lammons, Frank Bishop. Southwestern Historical Quarterly, v. 61, pp 20-50. |
976.406 SO8 v.61 |
|
Kelton, Elmer |
665.5074 K299p OVER-L |
MAIN |
|
Rister, Carl Coke |
923.5 L515r |
||
Emmett, Chris |
976.4 EM64 1969 |
MAIN |
|
True tales of the Texas frontier : eight centuries of adventure and surprise |
Williams, C. Herndon |
976.49 W670t |
MAIN |
Faulk, Odie B. |
357 F273U |
MAIN |
|
United States. Government Publishing Office. |
Y 1.1/2:SERIAL 881 |
USD and online through Internet Archive |
|
Stacey, May Humphreys |
917.64 ST12u 1970 |
MAIN |