Old Camp Verde
About this property
Camp Verde was a United States Army facility established on July 8, 1856 in Kerr County, Texas. It was along the road from San Antonio to El Paso. The camp was the headquarters for U.S. Camel Corps, which experimented with using dromedaries as pack animals in the southwestern United States. The Army imported camels in 1856 and 1857, using them with some success in extended surveys in the Southwest. The camels did not get along with the Army's horses and mules, which would bolt out of fear when they smelled a camel. The soldiers found the camels difficult to handle and they detested the smell of the animals. During the Civil War, on 28 February 1861 Confederate troops captured more than 80 camels and two foreign drivers at Camp Verde. A Texas Ranger company was assigned the camp in 1862 and J.W. Walker was in care of the camels, some of which were used to transport salt from San Antonio and Brownsville and San Elizario, while some transported cotton to Mexico. Three were let loose and found their way to Arkansas, where Federal troops sent them to Iowa to be sold. Some camels were kept in San Antonio, where Rip Ford considered using them in his recapture of Fort Brown due to the drought conditions between the Nueces and Rio Grande. They were sent to Guadalupe, where two died, before being sent back to Camp Verde. When Union troops reoccupied Camp Verde in 1865, they found about 66 camels remaining, which they auctioned off to Bethel Coopwood. Bethel sold five to Ringling Brothers Circus and other circus owners in Mexico, but when he brought the remaining camels back into the US, the government took back their brand. They reconsidered and soon released them. The camels were sent to Arizona, where they "gradually perished". Camp Verde was abandoned on April 1, 1869. Ruins of the officers' quarters are located on what is now private land. A Texas state historic marker and the entrance gate stand by the road. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 25, 1973.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Old Camp Verde listed on the National Register?
Old Camp Verde was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 1973.
What type of historic resource is Old Camp Verde?
Old Camp Verde is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Old Camp Verde?
The period of significance for Old Camp Verde is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near Old Camp Verde?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Old Camp Verde will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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