I've lived in Arizona and New Mexico since 1983 and I've never heard the red ghost story. You are one of the best historians of the southwest I've ever seen. Keep up the good work.
The irony in this video is that over the last few days I did see Camels about 19 on my expedition/explores. I also was going to a WLR here in NM but these camels were / are on someones land beside the refuge. So it's another story@@SidetrackAdventures
Too bad you didn't see a wild camel 🐪. You would have been famous and your channel exploding. But maybe Sasquatch of the Desert will cross your trail cam. The videos are to my liking since most of my life was SW Texas.
Here in Australia we have a big feral Camel problem, a legacy from the importation of Camels in the early to mid 1800's. They were used at first to carry supplies for expeditions deep into the Australian desert and later with the help of "Afghan" or "Ghan" cameleers they were used to ferry goods and supplies all throughout the remote areas of Australia. This all ended however once motorised transport in the 1920's took over and many of the ten's of thousands of camels which were imported where let go to fend for themselves in the Desert and subsequently thrived in the decades which followed. Last estimates is that there is approximately 300,000 of them roaming around so a lot easier to find if you know where to look! Just wanted to also say I've been watching your channel regulary since I found it earlier this year and I'm loving the content! I love history and there is just something beautiful about the desert regions of America which reminds me so much of places here in Australia. Also I love the fact that you show off the beaten path places in the US, places which most people outside of America wouldn't think of visiting as the focus is always on the big cities and national monuments. To me if I was to ever go to the USA these are the kind of places I would want to go so thank you for allowing me to go on these virtual tourist trips. Keep up the great work!
I was just thinking about the feral camels 🐪 in Australia Australia seems to be the land of feral animals you should load up a boat full and ship them to Arizona . LoL 😂
The camels in the desert here in the US did not fair well. Their hooves could not walk rock very well.Maybe the conditions in Australia were more conducive. They certainly died out here and did not multiply much plus our trigger happy idiots thought they were monsters from outer space so they shot them.
About 10 years ago, I saw a movie based on a true story of the lady who hiked across half of Australia from Alice Springs to the west coast. She had two or three domesticated camels to carry her camping equipment and supplies. What was ironic was when this Aussie movie had a limited American release, the only place I could locate the movie was across metropolitan phoenix in Scottsdale. The theaters name was “Camel View” ( or a similar name)
Not even 2 minutes in and I have to comment - thank you for the LOL! " . . . but maybe we'll see a chupacabra or Elvis or something . . ." I greatly enjoy your humor and narration along with your wonderful videography.
Another great piece of history! I camped in Kofa 30 years ago but didn't see any camels. However, two years ago I found bones from three different 20,000 year old camels in the Mojave near the Mojave River. They were officially collected by paleontologists and now reside at the San Bernardino County Museum. Camels and horses are actually originally from North America but died out at the end of the last ice age around the time of the Younger Dryas climate events.
Hi Jolly's grave and monument, is my litmus test of my traveling partners. I build hot rods for a living here in Phoenix, so many times a year, I find myself headed west on I-10, going to L.A. for shows and parts buys. By Quartzite, it's always time for a break, especially when you are in a '20s or '30s roadster, so "Let's visit Hi Jolly" it is! Reactions have ranged from my wife's first time visiting, and the subsequent 10-15 times she's been back since (She's a naturalized American, originally from Hong Kong) to a good friend, that was pissed beyond belief that I "took time for that!". It's always a good stop, though, and the history of this place is amazingly weird, sometimes, just like the folks that lived it. I'm damned proud to share this history in the capacity that I have all my life. Your production on this subject, as always, is absolutely awesome. Thank you for taking the time to do these!
My family used to stop at the Hi Jolly monument on trips across the Southwest in the 60's and 70's. The history behind it was so odd and interesting that it stuck with me for decades. His grave is (or at least was, as of 2004) surrounded by a seasonal RV park and open-air market, which I think is a nice touch: the old pilgrim and cameleteer now rests in a _caravanserai_ , like the ones he probably knew in his youth. Camelids are still in use as packstock in the American West: I've come across the Park Service using llama trains above treeline in Rocky Mountain National Park.
There was a 1976 film called "Hawmps" by the Benji guy Joe Camp, which my mother took us to see at the drive in when it came out. I actually thought it was cute :) and is loosely based on this story, including a character called Hi Jolly. It even had Slim Pickens and Denver Pyle in it. Love and miss you, Mama.
Look up Camp Verde, Texas West of San Antonio.They had camels there in the 1849s,1850s.The military were looking at them because they could be used in the desert.
Thanks so much for this video, really enjoyed it. Many years ago, probably in the 1970s, I read an article in the San Diego Union about these camels and the Army program that brought them over. One of the things I recall from the article is that the experiment was considered a big bust because camels evolved in sand dune country and their feet didn't hold up very well in the rocky deserts of the US Southwest. As always, appreciate the research you do for your videos and the old photos you always manage to come up with.
My dad was an avid student of the southwest. He and I (this is in the late 50s and all thru the 60s) wandered over all SoCal and a little of western AZ. Man dad claimed to have found camel track and dung in the Borrego and Ocotillo Wells areas. Then again, he also claimed to have seen the Thing (a ghost) in Thing valley. Steve, thank you for bringing my childhood and memories of my dad back to me in your videos. I’m a fan. And I wish Desert Magazine was still around.
In south Texas there's a small herd of Nigali (African Antelope) imported by a rancher years ago near South Padre Island. You will likely NEVER see them, but a friend of mine and I rode up on the herd with e-bikes accidentally and spotted them. So, it doesn't take a large amount of land to hide a small herd of large animals. 😊
Hi Steve . . . i remember watching an episode of the "ghost camel" story on the old tv show Death Valley Days when i was a kid. Knew that the Army brought camels into this area in the 1800s - - i didn't realize there are probably no longer any feral camels running around Arizona. Lot's of them in Australia though . . . we took a train trip from Perth to Sydney and went through their hugh desert area in the middle of that journey - - trains still have to be careful of camels crossing the tracks as to not to hit them. This was a fun video once again . . thanks!
I walked every step right along with you as I can't walk very well anymore. I look forward to them every week! I watched you grow since you started. And I love the research and the detail you put into your videos now! I'm glad you found an outdoor career cuz I really miss the outdoors
Wouldn't trying to spot camels with a drone be a lot easier? Yes, but we wouldn't be able to enjoy the dulcet tones of Steve narrating yet another wonderful video. Keep it up
"When you're looking for something that probably doesn't exist, I guess it really doesn't matter where you look," has become my favorite quote, and brightened a dismal day. Not to mention the "mule lobby," and even, "feral camels." Now I'm hearing a different version of Ghost Riders in the Sky, with ghost camels. Thanks!
Thank you for this video! Another delightful videos as usual. Sorry for the camels, they went extinct. They might have established a breeding population with a little help and better management. There are four extant species of camelids native to the New World, the llama, guanaco, alpaca and the vicuña; Old World camelids are the dromedary and the Bactrian: the dromedary has one (D) hump and the bactrian has two (B).
A classy episode with no camels. You can pick them up in Mongolia. People start with the wrong attitude that you can be completely indifferent to them. Thanks for trudging around Yuma, and for your soft clear delivery.
Great movie from when I was a kid, called Hawmps. We were living in Yuma when that came out. Had heard about them when we lived there in 1976ish. Another movie about camels in the desert, with James Garner called One Little Indian.
In the early 60’s, my dad was friends with some of the last living Jackass Prospectors in the Tonopah, Nv area. I remember as a five or six year old them tell their fantastic stories to my Dad. One of them was about camels in the area of Belmont, Nv, supposedly around the time of WWII. According to the story, a small miner used them to carry high grade to the smelter. When he died, his camels were allowed to run free. So maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t a story after all.
Your videos are getting better as time goes by, hi jolly used to deliver mail for the postal service clear down to Yuma, using the camel's, after the Army had no use for him,😊.
Nice touch with the trail camera and many years ago we’d hear about the camels because of living near Beale’s Cut. There’d be little references in the newspaper about sightings in the Palmdale/Lancaster area on Fort Teton Road but it definitely didn’t seem likely they were there either. It was fun to consider the possibility though. 🤷🏻♀️
I would not be afraid to ride a camel, having ridden horses for over 60 years. La Brea Tar Pits in LA has camels (from prehistoric times) in their collection. Like the horse, the camel and horse were definitely part of the prehistoric area of AZ and CA/
Thank you, Steve. There might still be a stuffed camel from the U.S. Army camel logistics era in the museum at Fort Irwin, CA, north of Barstow. I'm not sure if the museum or the National Training Center base is open to the public any more. (I spent a year there 1968-1969, and visited twice in the 2000's. Darn! I'm getting old!) 🤗
I was out there for training once, but I never went to the museum unfortunately. I think anytime we had outside of the box I was more interested in sleeping. I think they allow visitors, so I may have to see if I can check it out. They sometimes do tours of the deep space network out there, and have always wanted to check that out.
@@SidetrackAdventuresI remember coming out of the movie theater at 10 pm and the asphalt parking lot was mushy! Gold Stone antennas were on my "round to it" list, but never made it out there.
I love your channel. I lived in SoCal for eight years back in the 90s and wish RUclips and the channel was around back then…I could have made a lot more back road trips. Oh, and with this excursion, it’s nice to reminisce about searching for the elusive camel toes 🐫 and camel claws 🐫 around SoCal! 🤔😳👍
Another great installment of your program! Props to the welder that made the Hi Jolly Memorial plaque. It took some patience and skill to do it that well.
Makes for good campfire stories...Variation Story: ......Red Ghost Canyon - Kingman- Ft Beale....a sargent strapped a soldier to the back of a camel.... that didnt like the camels....and then chased off the camel.....oops ....and to this day at night....the Red Camel and soldier scoop up bad children......now go to bed......lol
Grew up visiting Camp Verde in South Tejas where the camels were once corralled hearing the stories about the cavalry, the road westward and all the rest. Would be so cool to learn there are survivors and don't see why there couldn't be some. Sadly, a rich 'Houstonian' bought the old Camp Verde General Store and removed the wooden Native American statue, spruced the store up so it doesn't look old and now it's a trendy destination for folks from afar. I miss, like the old timers, the good old days when we could fish by the river with grasshoppers we caught up in the corn field above on the bluff. sigh
Quartzsite is 20 miles east of me here in Blythe. My great grandmother lived there in Quartzsite, so I visited there a lot as a kid. She had one of the camels in her front yard....it had been taxidermied for many years, now I have no idea what became of her beloved "Lumpy".
Hi, Steve. Great video. FYI - the Closed Captions turned Quartzsite into "court site" and Camel Corps into "camel Court." Fortunately, I'm used to deciphering CCs. 😊
Hey Steve I just wanted to say what a great channel you have and what a great historian you are, it’s very entertaining, and I get a history lesson every time I watch a new episode, thanks and keep them coming, you always do your homework.
Nice video. I live in a ghost town on the Texas coast called Indianola. This is where all the camels from Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey landed and the two camel drivers that came with the camels are buried.
The Mule Lobby! So funny how things like that were so serious at the time, and now a joke. Really enjoyed this one. Great story!! I've been through Quartzite numerous times, but never knew about Hi Jolly or that camels were there. I recall an episode of the TV series The Young Riders where a 'monster' was terrorizing people, and Anthony Zerbe's Teaspoon quickly identified it as a camel. The time frame of that series was 1860-1861, so it was plausible. I love the idea of the trail cam. We put up cameras about a year ago to solve the mystery of something chomping my rose bushes overnight. We are often treated to movies of raccoons, opossums, rats, skunks, coyotes, rabbits, or the occasional spider or confused bird. And, of course, cats. The creepy spider closeups are great! Boo! :)
Really enjoyed this weeks episode, a facinating desert story, scenic landscapes and peaceful background music. We love the variety of your channel. Congratulations on the 200k we have been watching for a year or two now and will be sticking around. Thanks Steve and family. ❤ ❤ ❤
Thanks for another top notch history lesson on the American south west. Looked really desolate too, so much untamed wilderness still out there. Too late in life for me to get out and about much but have to say I would have loved to explore that part of the world in my younger days.
Steve, I always enjoy your adventures and look forward to each new post. We're fortunate to have you on this half of the country. How far east have you gone making videos?
Just so interesting now I mean yeah camels could definitely survive in the American Southwest and you can ride them like you can ride horses so I'm kind of not surprised they're still not around being used as such. Thanks for the awesome video, Steve as always, Hope you have a happy Halloween!
Have pictures of Camels in New Mex. Sixty years ago, growing up in New Mex. my Uncle told me the history of Camels out west. Around fifteen yrs ago I finally spotted one.
Cool. There is a Mountain in Scottsdale AZ named Camelback Mountain because of its unique shape. Great vid. I will keep my eyes out for the ghosts next time I drink Mescal. thx.
Great video as usual. There is a camel farm between Ramona and Santa Ysabel in San Diego east county. I was surprised to see camels the first time I rode by it on my motorcycle.
😂 I knew about the Arizona camels and always hoped a few were still out there. And I did a laughing double-take when we saw camels in a fenced field north of Fort Worth along I-35 about 20 years ago!
Hope you find a stick lizard when you are searching for a chupacabra. Such a pleasant timeout each week to follow your adventures. I was born in Albuquerque, moved to San Diego when I was 6, spent my university years in Utah, then 7 years in the Imperial Valley, and now 40 years in Tucson. Seems like every episode brings back related memories of some kind. Thank you!
@@billcampbell9611 That's just what I was brought up with in Southern Oregon during the 1950s and 1960s where many of the streams had "plasser" mining claims along the banks.
I always thought it would be great to have a camel here in the SW. The culture should support camel ownership. Consider doing a story on the jaguars of Arizona. It's true.
Great story, I was at El Morro in New Mexico recently, they commentate the camel corps that you describe. They held a celebration of the camel corps. The participants visited and stayed at the Ancient Way Cafe at El Morro, great place to eat.
One interesting thing is the herds of mules around the Colorado River. In the 19th Century mules escaped or were let loose by miners who were looking for gold. A couple of weeks ago I saw four mules near Imperial Dam near the river.
Mules are sterile so they can't reproduce, but burros are all through the Mojave Desert. They weren't real common in Lanfair Valley and Fenner Valley when I lived there 50 years ago, but I saw a few. 🙂
![Kodak Black - Catch Fire [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/A4ch-olIuZo/mqdefault.jpg)
When you're looking for something that doesn't exist, it doesn't really matter where you look. That's some next-level zen wisdom stuff, Steve! 😂
I've lived in Arizona and New Mexico since 1983 and I've never heard the red ghost story. You are one of the best historians of the southwest I've ever seen. Keep up the good work.
Thank you.
Absolutely he is!!
The irony in this video is that over the last few days I did see Camels about 19 on my expedition/explores. I also was going to a WLR here in NM but these camels were / are on someones land beside the refuge. So it's another story@@SidetrackAdventures
Too bad you didn't see a wild camel 🐪. You would have been famous and your channel exploding. But maybe Sasquatch of the Desert will cross your trail cam.
The videos are to my liking since most of my life was SW Texas.
@@PlanetEarth3141Where in SW Texas?
Here in Australia we have a big feral Camel problem, a legacy from the importation of Camels in the early to mid 1800's. They were used at first to carry supplies for expeditions deep into the Australian desert and later with the help of "Afghan" or "Ghan" cameleers they were used to ferry goods and supplies all throughout the remote areas of Australia. This all ended however once motorised transport in the 1920's took over and many of the ten's of thousands of camels which were imported where let go to fend for themselves in the Desert and subsequently thrived in the decades which followed. Last estimates is that there is approximately 300,000 of them roaming around so a lot easier to find if you know where to look!
Just wanted to also say I've been watching your channel regulary since I found it earlier this year and I'm loving the content! I love history and there is just something beautiful about the desert regions of America which reminds me so much of places here in Australia. Also I love the fact that you show off the beaten path places in the US, places which most people outside of America wouldn't think of visiting as the focus is always on the big cities and national monuments. To me if I was to ever go to the USA these are the kind of places I would want to go so thank you for allowing me to go on these virtual tourist trips. Keep up the great work!
that's kind of amazing, I had no idea there were camels in aus.
I was just thinking about the feral camels 🐪 in Australia
Australia seems to be the land of feral animals you should load up a boat full and ship them to Arizona . LoL 😂
The camels in the desert here in the US did not fair well. Their hooves could not walk rock very well.Maybe the conditions in Australia were more conducive. They certainly died out here and did not multiply much plus our trigger happy idiots thought they were monsters from outer space so they shot them.
another interesting bit of info - Australia exports those camels to the Middle East - specifically Saudi Arabia!!
About 10 years ago, I saw a movie based on a true story of the lady who hiked across half of Australia from Alice Springs to the west coast. She had two or three domesticated camels to carry her camping equipment and supplies.
What was ironic was when this Aussie movie had a limited American release, the only place I could locate the movie was across metropolitan phoenix in Scottsdale. The theaters name was “Camel View” ( or a similar name)
Not even 2 minutes in and I have to comment - thank you for the LOL! " . . . but maybe we'll see a chupacabra or Elvis or something . . ."
I greatly enjoy your humor and narration along with your wonderful videography.
Watch for the 'jackalopes!'
My mom was born in Yuma in 1927!
RIP Mom! Thanks, Steve!
Honestly, I didn't't even see a squirrel out there!
Another great piece of history! I camped in Kofa 30 years ago but didn't see any camels. However, two years ago I found bones from three different 20,000 year old camels in the Mojave near the Mojave River. They were officially collected by paleontologists and now reside at the San Bernardino County Museum. Camels and horses are actually originally from North America but died out at the end of the last ice age around the time of the Younger Dryas climate events.
Interesting!
Hi Jolly's grave and monument, is my litmus test of my traveling partners.
I build hot rods for a living here in Phoenix, so many times a year, I find myself headed west on I-10, going to L.A. for shows and parts buys. By Quartzite, it's always time for a break, especially when you are in a '20s or '30s roadster, so "Let's visit Hi Jolly" it is! Reactions have ranged from my wife's first time visiting, and the subsequent 10-15 times she's been back since (She's a naturalized American, originally from Hong Kong) to a good friend, that was pissed beyond belief that I "took time for that!".
It's always a good stop, though, and the history of this place is amazingly weird, sometimes, just like the folks that lived it. I'm damned proud to share this history in the capacity that I have all my life.
Your production on this subject, as always, is absolutely awesome. Thank you for taking the time to do these!
Thanks!
My family used to stop at the Hi Jolly monument on trips across the Southwest in the 60's and 70's. The history behind it was so odd and interesting that it stuck with me for decades. His grave is (or at least was, as of 2004) surrounded by a seasonal RV park and open-air market, which I think is a nice touch: the old pilgrim and cameleteer now rests in a _caravanserai_ , like the ones he probably knew in his youth.
Camelids are still in use as packstock in the American West: I've come across the Park Service using llama trains above treeline in Rocky Mountain National Park.
I love hearing these type of stories. Thank you for sharing.
There is an RV park right near it, but mostly surrounded by other graves now.
There was a 1976 film called "Hawmps" by the Benji guy Joe Camp, which my mother took us to see at the drive in when it came out. I actually thought it was cute :) and is loosely based on this story, including a character called Hi Jolly. It even had Slim Pickens and Denver Pyle in it. Love and miss you, Mama.
Yes, I remember.
Look up Camp Verde, Texas West of San Antonio.They had camels there in the 1849s,1850s.The military were looking at them because they could be used in the desert.
Thanks so much for this video, really enjoyed it. Many years ago, probably in the 1970s, I read an article in the San Diego Union about these camels and the Army program that brought them over. One of the things I recall from the article is that the experiment was considered a big bust because camels evolved in sand dune country and their feet didn't hold up very well in the rocky deserts of the US Southwest. As always, appreciate the research you do for your videos and the old photos you always manage to come up with.
The trail camera is a great addition to your travels. Thanks for trying to find the mysterious camels.
Thanks. I wish I could have kept it out longer, but that would have required planning more than a couple weeks in advance!
My dad was an avid student of the southwest. He and I (this is in the late 50s and all thru the 60s) wandered over all SoCal and a little of western AZ. Man dad claimed to have found camel track and dung in the Borrego and Ocotillo Wells areas. Then again, he also claimed to have seen the Thing (a ghost) in Thing valley. Steve, thank you for bringing my childhood and memories of my dad back to me in your videos. I’m a fan. And I wish Desert Magazine was still around.
Almost at 200k subscribers! 🎉 You deserve it brother. Love your channel. Keep it up.
Thanks! Will do!
200,000 hit....boom!
Whoop whoop! 🎉💥🙌
I love his sense of humor😊
You don't "Find" Bigfoot, Bigfoot FINDS you! Another cool episode, Thanks Steve....
your channel is one of my favourite channels I've discovered in 2024
Thank you.
Bigfoot, camels, chupacabra, and Elvis... what fun!
In south Texas there's a small herd of Nigali (African Antelope) imported by a rancher years ago near South Padre Island. You will likely NEVER see them, but a friend of mine and I rode up on the herd with e-bikes accidentally and spotted them. So, it doesn't take a large amount of land to hide a small herd of large animals. 😊
I appreciate all the effort that goes into the historical bits and pieces that go into your videos- renews my love for our American Southwest.
Hi Steve . . . i remember watching an episode of the "ghost camel" story on the old tv show Death Valley Days when i was a kid. Knew that the Army brought camels into this area in the 1800s - - i didn't realize there are probably no longer any feral camels running around Arizona. Lot's of them in Australia though . . . we took a train trip from Perth to Sydney and went through their hugh desert area in the middle of that journey - - trains still have to be careful of camels crossing the tracks as to not to hit them. This was a fun video once again . . thanks!
Someone else commented about Camels in Auatralia...who knew!
I live in New England, which, is now is colder and getting gloomy. The blue sky's in these adventures are great in the southwest
I walked every step right along with you as I can't walk very well anymore. I look forward to them every week! I watched you grow since you started. And I love the research and the detail you put into your videos now! I'm glad you found an outdoor career cuz I really miss the outdoors
I really appreciate the time that you spend on historical background information. ❤❤❤
In the early 80's i remember My dad and I took a bus tour and i remember the guide talking about the lost camel's of Az
Wouldn't trying to spot camels with a drone be a lot easier?
Yes, but we wouldn't be able to enjoy the dulcet tones of Steve narrating yet another wonderful video. Keep it up
"When you're looking for something that probably doesn't exist, I guess it really doesn't matter where you look," has become my favorite quote, and brightened a dismal day. Not to mention the "mule lobby," and even, "feral camels." Now I'm hearing a different version of Ghost Riders in the Sky, with ghost camels. Thanks!
Thank you for this video!
Another delightful videos as usual. Sorry for the camels, they went extinct. They might have established a breeding population with a little help and better management.
There are four extant species of camelids native to the New World, the llama, guanaco, alpaca and the vicuña; Old World camelids are the dromedary and the Bactrian: the dromedary has one (D) hump and the bactrian has two (B).
Maybe its good the camels went by the wayside. Because if they didn't, then Clint Eastwood's movie would be called "Two Camels for Sister Sarah".
Sounds Biblical.
Great episode.
A classy episode with no camels. You can pick them up in Mongolia. People start with the wrong attitude that you can be completely indifferent to them. Thanks for trudging around Yuma, and for your soft clear delivery.
Great movie from when I was a kid, called Hawmps. We were living in Yuma when that came out. Had heard about them when we lived there in 1976ish. Another movie about camels in the desert, with James Garner called One Little Indian.
In the early 60’s, my dad was friends with some of the last living Jackass Prospectors in the Tonopah, Nv area. I remember as a five or six year old them tell their fantastic stories to my Dad. One of them was about camels in the area of Belmont, Nv, supposedly around the time of WWII. According to the story, a small miner used them to carry high grade to the smelter. When he died, his camels were allowed to run free. So maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t a story after all.
Fort Tejon in California, they had camels too.
Yeah, that was where the Beale expedition ended.
I love this channel, it brings back the 2000s for me. 😂
Thanks.
Your videos are getting better as time goes by, hi jolly used to deliver mail for the postal service clear down to Yuma, using the camel's, after the Army had no use for him,😊.
Thanks for checking into this. I knew that you could make it an interesting story.
Nice touch with the trail camera and many years ago we’d hear about the camels because of living near Beale’s Cut. There’d be little references in the newspaper about sightings in the Palmdale/Lancaster area on Fort Teton Road but it definitely didn’t seem likely they were there either. It was fun to consider the possibility though. 🤷🏻♀️
I would not be afraid to ride a camel, having ridden horses for over 60 years. La Brea Tar Pits in LA has camels (from prehistoric times) in their collection. Like the horse, the camel and horse were definitely part of the prehistoric area of AZ and CA/
Thank you, Steve. There might still be a stuffed camel from the U.S. Army camel logistics era in the museum at Fort Irwin, CA, north of Barstow. I'm not sure if the museum or the National Training Center base is open to the public any more. (I spent a year there 1968-1969, and visited twice in the 2000's. Darn! I'm getting old!) 🤗
I was out there for training once, but I never went to the museum unfortunately. I think anytime we had outside of the box I was more interested in sleeping. I think they allow visitors, so I may have to see if I can check it out. They sometimes do tours of the deep space network out there, and have always wanted to check that out.
@@SidetrackAdventuresI remember coming out of the movie theater at 10 pm and the asphalt parking lot was mushy! Gold Stone antennas were on my "round to it" list, but never made it out there.
I love your channel. I lived in SoCal for eight years back in the 90s and wish RUclips and the channel was around back then…I could have made a lot more back road trips.
Oh, and with this excursion, it’s nice to reminisce about searching for the elusive camel toes 🐫 and camel claws 🐫 around SoCal! 🤔😳👍
Never saw a camel in SoCal, but I did see a Kamala once.
@@CarsandCatsWas the Kamala laughing like a hyena?
Awesome. Not that you hadnt already planned this one - thank you for taking my suggestion. Love this place!
Thank you so much.
Wonderful trip and story.
Thanks for all your ventures.
Another great installment of your program!
Props to the welder that made the Hi Jolly Memorial plaque. It took some patience and skill to do it that well.
Makes for good campfire stories...Variation Story: ......Red Ghost Canyon - Kingman- Ft Beale....a sargent strapped a soldier to the back of a camel.... that didnt like the camels....and then chased off the camel.....oops ....and to this day at night....the Red Camel and soldier scoop up bad children......now go to bed......lol
The skeleton on the camel picture could be an anti-smoking advertisement.
Grew up visiting Camp Verde in South Tejas where the camels were once corralled hearing the stories about the cavalry, the road westward and all the rest. Would be so cool to learn there are survivors and don't see why there couldn't be some. Sadly, a rich 'Houstonian' bought the old Camp Verde General Store and removed the wooden Native American statue, spruced the store up so it doesn't look old and now it's a trendy destination for folks from afar. I miss, like the old timers, the good old days when we could fish by the river with grasshoppers we caught up in the corn field above on the bluff. sigh
All this history around us. Very interestig. Thx.
You're a national treasure, Steve.
That was an interesting bit of history Steve. Thank you for the video.
Quartzsite is 20 miles east of me here in Blythe.
My great grandmother lived there in Quartzsite, so I visited there a lot as a kid.
She had one of the camels in her front yard....it had been taxidermied for many years, now I have no idea what became of her beloved "Lumpy".
Thanks Steve. I enjoy watching your videos so much. I like the trail cam, you should keep using it. Who knows what you might catch on film.
It’s Sidetrack Steve! I look forward to my lunch break every Wednesday.
Great story! Thanks for taking us along to this beautiful area and for sharing all of your historical research. See you next week!
Awesome 👌
I LOVEEEEE This story. I've known about it since I was a kid. Thanks for exploring it!
Hi, Steve. Great video.
FYI - the Closed Captions turned Quartzsite into "court site" and Camel Corps into "camel Court." Fortunately, I'm used to deciphering CCs. 😊
RUclips is adding dubbing in other languages now, so I can only imagine what that is getting wrong.
Hey Steve I just wanted to say what a great channel you have and what a great historian you are, it’s very entertaining, and I get a history lesson every time I watch a new episode, thanks and keep them coming, you always do your homework.
Awesome information and footage. Supposedly, according to some old fishermen, there are camels on Padre Island National Seashore.
It's possible I guess. There is lots of open space in Texas.
"a chupacabra or Elvis or something" 🤣
He mentioned Camp Verde and I perked up, I thought for a second he may have meant Camp Verde in Arizona.
Mule lobby! 🤣 I guess it makes sense that an industry would have a congressional lobby, but something about "mule lobby" just cracks me up!
Don’t mess with Big Mule!
Another great one Steve...cheers.
This is your best one yet. I like it whenever you walk through the desert where the saguaros are. Thank you.
Nice video. I live in a ghost town on the Texas coast called Indianola. This is where all the camels from Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey landed and the two camel drivers that came with the camels are buried.
I have herd the camel legend. Never saw one. Never expected to. Did a fare amount of exploring. Enjoying your videos.
I loved this one! Ghost camels. Pretty cool! Loved the historical information about the army's camels and "Hi Jolly."
The Mule Lobby! So funny how things like that were so serious at the time, and now a joke. Really enjoyed this one. Great story!! I've been through Quartzite numerous times, but never knew about Hi Jolly or that camels were there. I recall an episode of the TV series The Young Riders where a 'monster' was terrorizing people, and Anthony Zerbe's Teaspoon quickly identified it as a camel. The time frame of that series was 1860-1861, so it was plausible. I love the idea of the trail cam. We put up cameras about a year ago to solve the mystery of something chomping my rose bushes overnight. We are often treated to movies of raccoons, opossums, rats, skunks, coyotes, rabbits, or the occasional spider or confused bird. And, of course, cats. The creepy spider closeups are great! Boo! :)
Once again a view of obscure Southwest history, many thanks, and keep the trail camera handy for future adventures! Bart
Loving your channel. Thanks for uploading
Really enjoyed this weeks episode, a facinating desert story, scenic landscapes and peaceful background music. We love the variety of your channel. Congratulations on the 200k we have been watching for a year or two now and will be sticking around. Thanks Steve and family. ❤ ❤ ❤
Thanks for another top notch history lesson on the American south west. Looked really desolate too, so much untamed wilderness still out there. Too late in life for me to get out and about much but have to say I would have loved to explore that part of the world in my younger days.
Steve, I always enjoy your adventures and look forward to each new post. We're fortunate to have you on this half of the country. How far east have you gone making videos?
If you don't count Italy, then western Texas.
Living in Michigan, for me your videos of historical Southwest are a real gem. I look forward to each one
Great storytelling Steve! Thanks for bringing us along.
Excellent video. I remember hearing the camel stories when I was a kid. I always believed them, though. Keep looking . . .
Thank you for all the time and effort that you place into making these videos. This is my favourite channel.
Your videos are always so good. A++
Hi Steve, we still have feral Camels here in Central Australia 🇦🇺, as they helped establish railways thru Central Australia,
Just so interesting now I mean yeah camels could definitely survive in the American Southwest and you can ride them like you can ride horses so I'm kind of not surprised they're still not around being used as such. Thanks for the awesome video, Steve as always, Hope you have a happy Halloween!
They probably were sterilized.
Have pictures of Camels in New Mex. Sixty years ago, growing up in New Mex. my Uncle told me the history of Camels out west. Around fifteen yrs ago I finally spotted one.
Apparently a young Douglas McArthur had seen or heard about them in that area too.
Cool. There is a Mountain in Scottsdale AZ named Camelback Mountain because of its unique shape. Great vid. I will keep my eyes out for the ghosts next time I drink Mescal. thx.
Great video as usual. There is a camel farm between Ramona and Santa Ysabel in San Diego east county. I was surprised to see camels the first time I rode by it on my motorcycle.
😂 I knew about the Arizona camels and always hoped a few were still out there. And I did a laughing double-take when we saw camels in a fenced field north of Fort Worth along I-35 about 20 years ago!
I've seen that place as I've passed by too.
Hope you find a stick lizard when you are searching for a chupacabra. Such a pleasant timeout each week to follow your adventures. I was born in Albuquerque, moved to San Diego when I was 6, spent my university years in Utah, then 7 years in the Imperial Valley, and now 40 years in Tucson. Seems like every episode brings back related memories of some kind. Thank you!
Steve, this is so good. My wife and I are hooked on your videos. Thank you for doing this.
Thanks, always wondered why the camal stuff all over Quartzite!! Enjoyed another great adventure!! Thank you!!
Wow so intrigued ! I never knew any of this history, I hope people still appreciate it :)
Great effort and great story!
Thanks for all your efforts in looking for the unusual in this desolate area. Mahalo good luck on your next venture😊
Great video thanks man
Thank you.
Great show!!!!
They died out very rapidly after being left behind. This is widely well known.
OK then.
PS: Even better, I WAS subscribed.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Did you at least find any Newports or a Marlboro?
Great video, Steve. I've always heard "placer" pronounced "plasser" rather than "place" with a "r".
Exactly so, it’s pronounced “plasser” when referring to mining.
@@billcampbell9611 That's just what I was brought up with in Southern Oregon during the 1950s and 1960s where many of the streams had "plasser" mining claims along the banks.
I always thought it would be great to have a camel here in the SW. The culture should support camel ownership. Consider doing a story on the jaguars of Arizona. It's true.
Fascinated by the camel story, Thanks Steve...
Been under the weather as of late, but I'm still fighting this bug, Good video, never would have thought about camels. THE SARGE
Fun video right at Halloween. Thanks
Great story, I was at El Morro in New Mexico recently, they commentate the camel corps that you describe. They held a celebration of the camel corps. The participants visited and stayed at the Ancient Way Cafe at El Morro, great place to eat.
Another gr8 video Steve, searching 4 the red ghost
One interesting thing is the herds of mules around the Colorado River. In the 19th Century mules escaped or were let loose by miners who were looking for gold. A couple of weeks ago I saw four mules near Imperial Dam near the river.
Mules are sterile so they can't reproduce, but burros are all through the Mojave Desert. They weren't real common in Lanfair Valley and Fenner Valley when I lived there 50 years ago, but I saw a few. 🙂
Saw lots of signs of burros last weekend, but no actual burros.
@@SidetrackAdventures My wife thinks I'm a Weirdo but I collect sacks of Burro poop for my garden. Good stuff!