European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Beale continued using the camels he had in California for Small scale surveying but finally turned them Over to the army quartermaster in California in 1861. Then came the civil War which served to kill the project for Good. The. Camels that had been left in California a a a a. Were kept in los Angeles in relative Comfort and. Were used to haul Light freight from the Harbor to the City Center. But Beale himself became too Busy with the War to protect the animals and promote their use. Few other officers understood them and most enlisted men who cared for them loathed the Job. One chroniclers explanation a under excitement the camels would blow bloody looking bladders out of their Mouths. When annoyed they would eject their cuts into the faces of unwary onlookers and were inclined to splatter their excretions without warning wherever the onlooker happened to be  in late 1863, the Union auctioned off All the California camels to private speculators who in turn sold them to circuses and merchants. The sizable Herd of camels that Beale left behind in Texas was taken Over by the conf Der ates but the rebels did no to use them much. No particular care was taken to prevent their escape and Many wandered off into the wilds. After the War ended the coming of the Railroad made the concept of using camels As com Mercial transport obsolete and die government made plans to unload the 66 still under its control., ,. Like their California Brethren the Texas camels were auctioned off to private citizens most of these also made their Way into the wilds after their owners realized that the Cost of maintaining them far exceeded their a commercial potential. The army found the camels to be ornery beasts that would screw up their faces and refuse to move when they were  roaming open Range made a shocking sight. A a Quot iter the . Government gave up on the idea of a Camel corps and the last of the Herd was set free the beasts roamed the desert living out their lives. 1 for years sightings of ghostly apparitions in the wastelands trickled in from Trail riders and Gold prospectors All Over. Nevada Arizona California Texas and Utah. Lathe 1870s, a woman in Martindale a Texas was milking the family cow when a a grotesque figure shoved its head Over the Fence a causing the Bovine a and the woman a a to nearly faint with fright. It was is a wandering Camel. Two Gold prospectors in Arizona in the late 1870s were startled by the hair raising vision of nine camels moving toward them from Over a Hill outlined by the Moon. There were also Many problems with the camels causing horses to Stampede prompting one wag to observe a this is bad for the horses and worse Lor the Pilot of the Camel if the owner of the horses should have his pistol with  but the beasts from the last were not a without their admirers. A a a a a a a Mary Stuckey who saw he army a Herd of camels on its Way to san Antonio was so taken with the Odd creatures that she asked for some hair from one of the animals declaring her intention to knit a pair of socks for president Pierce. Stuckey could never quite get rid of the hairs naturally rancid odor but she persisted and eventually presented the completed Camel hair hosiery to maj. Henry Wayne the head of the expedition. Wayne. Dutifully made the delivery to Pierce when he returned to Washington. Pierce thanked Stuckey with a note and a Silver Goblet but unfortunately history does no to record whether he Ever actually wore the socks. In 1885, Gen. Douglas Macarthur re. Called being astonished when As a 5-year-old boy living at his father s army Post at fort Selden n.m., he saw a Camel wander into the Camp. As late As 1891, a doctor on a Burro Hunting expedition near Victoria Texas told of seeing two camels in some Sand dunes. Circus camels with the . Government Brand on their hides were seen Well into this Century. The Oakland Calif Tribune reported in 1934 that the last offspring of the military Herd had died although the newspaper failed to explain How it could be certain of that. A since the Camel can live for up to 50 years its possible that some descendants wandered the great Western Range munching on scrub Brush for Many years beyond that. A a Chuck v inc March 10, 1991 sunday a Page 5