The first drove of camels was, likewise, brought into this country by
S. B. Howes, and, being broken to drive in harness, they also proved a
powerful drawing card. This first drove he imported in 1847 from Cairo,
Egypt. Mr. Howes then sent Augustus Crane to the Canary Islands, in
1848, in search of camels, and in 1849 he landed in Baltimore with a
drove of eleven. No more camels were brought in after this for several
years, until a lady in Texas, the owner of a "slaver" or slave ship,
brought some over as a subterfuge. Her excuse was that she wanted them
to use as beasts of burden on her plantation; but, although the camels
were on deck, she had a lower deck on which were huddled together,
after the inhuman fashion of the time, many poor blacks, who were
really the "beasts of burden" of greatest value to this feminine slave
trader.
The government also imported a lot of camels and made the experiment of
carrying the mails from Texas to California by "Camel Post"; but, this
proving unsuccessful, the animals were turned loose to shift for
themselves until showmen created a demand for them and bought most of
them for very little money, in some cases paying only $80 apiece for
them. It is said that even now there are a few camels running wild in
Western Texas and Mexico.