What an idea! When we were traveling thru the desert in very far south California we could actually picture the Camel efforts once instituted by the US Army.  In 1856-7 The United States Army imported 68 camels and 10 drivers to transport supplies from Texas to California.  The transport system worked well west from Albuquerque on  Route 66. Of course there was no Route 66, but these guys were blazing the trail.  Unfortunately the army abandoned the experiment three years later because Congress laughed at them. The camels were sold to circuses and released on the desert. This sounds very rude to me. They roamed for the next 30 years. Hi Jolly the last of the camel drivers died in the desert near Quartzsite, Arizona in 1902. His tomb and memorial stand in Quartzsite beside 1-8.