The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 33, July 1929 - April, 1930 Page: 30
344 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
it is needless to inquire whether they may be bred in the United
States."86
The first site examined for the permanent headquarters of the
camel training camp was Fort Martin Scott, just southeast of what
is now Fredericksburg, Gillespie county, a fort then badly in need
of repairs and owned by a Mr. Twohig, who offered the place to
the government for ten years at fifty dollars a month.37 Wayne
was not in the least impressed with the place. While at Fort
Martin Scott, he heard of a post at Green Valley (Val Verde),
just south of what is now Kerrville, in Kerr county.
A visit was made to the camp at Val Verde early in August,
1856, and Wayne was very pleased with the entire situation there.
Camp Verde (as it was soon named) was situated three miles
outside of Bandera Pass at a distance of sixty miles from San
Antonio and in direct communication with the frontier posts.
Burden animals could be used in taking supplies from San Antonio
to the camp; the dromedaries could be used as express carriers to
the frontier or the settlements and also as pack animals to scouting
parties instead of mules.38 Wayne immediately began the removal
of the camel outfit to the new camp, and by August 27, the last
camel had been brought to his new quarters.
Life at the new camp was a busy one. Experiments in weights
of loads for the camels, distances to be traversed and time consumed
on such trips consumed practically all of Wayne's time. On Sep-
tember 24, Wayne wrote to Davis, asking the Secretary of War to
send him "the treatise on the 'Zembourek' or 'dromedary artillery,'
either the original French or my translation; the original French
I would prefer, as I had not time to make with my translation
copies of all the drawings.""
An early experiment in camel transportation was a trip over a
straight road to San Antonio lying over the mountains which was
impracticable for wagons due to its ruggedness. Wayne's clerk,
Ray, was put in charge of a caravan of twelve camels and left Camp
Verde on October 1. In spite of a twenty-mile detour, the caravan
83Report, 152. Major-General Thomas S. Jesup to Major Wayne, Wash-
ington, July 30, 1856.
J'Report, 153. Wayne to Davis, San Antonio, July 28, 1856.
"8Report, 155-150. Wayne to Davis, San Antonio, August 12, 1856.
"Report, 159. Written from Camp Verde.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 33, July 1929 - April, 1930, periodical, 1930; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101090/m1/38/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.