The Red Ghost
In the 1850s, the US had recently grown its territory to include the formerly Mexican territories of California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. This, obviously, created an immense amount of opportunity and people were moving out west in droves. However, in this Southwestern climate, their typical pack animals were struggling in the heat. Thus, camels were introduced. And yes, this is an astonishing legend about a camel. Stick with me.
The United States Camel Corps was created in the mid-1850s and came with a hefty Congressional appropriation valued at nearly $800,000 in today’s currency. There were two purchasing trips to the Mediterranean in which 70 camels and dromedaries were purchased, and over a dozen drivers were hired. However, so different from the pack animals they were used to, many of those who used camels were subject to biting, spitting, and notable wounds. Then, the civil war tore the country apart and the Camel Corps, and its potential, were forgotten.
Many of the camels that remained were slaughtered, cut loose, or otherwise escaped to the deserts. By the 1860s, the records of any remaining camels were all but lost…except for one: The Red Ghost.
This camel survivor was a murderous mystery and resurfaced in 1883, when a woman was discovered near Eagle Creek trampled “almost flat” and surrounded by long strands of red hair. When questioned by a coroner, the woman from inside the cabin spoke who witnessed the death, she described it as a beast: red, “very tall and ridden by a devil.”
Shortly after the horrific death, the well-known cowboy Cyrus Hamblin spotted the beast which he described as a huge camel with red hair and, apparently, a corpse strapped to its back. Thus, the legend of the Red Ghost bloomed.
Just a few weeks after Hamblin's sighting, the Red Ghost reared its head in the valley of the Verde River, about sixty miles west of where Hamblin spotted him. A group of prospectors saw the creature feeding, got within shooting distance, and fired. However, they missed and it galloped out of range. However, when the prospects trailed it the red Ghost had left something behind…a human skull, with shreds of flesh and hair still clinging to it.
Throughout the 1880s, stories of the Red Ghost and its mercilessness stormed mining camps, villages, and roads. It was given credit for mining shaft cave-ins, attacks, and even the death of the bear. And it was believed the corpse that was strapped to its back had willingly strapped himself to the Red Ghost, hoping the camel would lead him to water. However, it seems he met his end before the Red Ghost met water.
But, sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.
While some of the tales of the Red Ghost may have been embellished or fabricated, its existence was quite real. On February 25th, 1893, as printed in the Mohave County Miner, the Red Ghost was felled by ranch Mizoo Hastings. Hastings had seen the camel ruining his garden and opened fire on the animal, killing it. When the body was examined, it was discovered that the camel was covered with knotted rawhide ropes, some so old that they cut into its very flesh.
But camels seemed to cling on for a few more decades in America In April 1934, the Oakland Tribune wrote: “The Last American Camel Is Dead.” The camel, dubbed “Topsy,” was last seen trekking across the desert of Arizona into California. When she ended up in L.A., she was taken in by zoo employees near Griffith Park.
The blog is image Above, two zebras; below, a man in a uniform holding a camel. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Thanks to IG follower Zoniegirl82 for this blogstonishing suggestion!