File:The mystic mid-region, the deserts of the Southwest (1904) (14595071788).jpg

Identifier: mysticmidregiond00burd (find matches)
Title: The mystic mid-region, the deserts of the Southwest
Year: 1904 (1900s)
Authors: Burdick, Arthur J. (Arthur Jerome), 1858-
Subjects: Deserts Southwest, New -- Description and travel
Publisher: New York, London, G.P. Putnam's Sons
Contributing Library: New York Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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con-fines of the Great Mojave Desert. Then, as now, a tribe of Indians dwelt inthe vicinity of the fort, but, unlike the presenttime, they were hostile to whites, and unpro-tected parties fared but poorly at their hands.Redwine had completed the greater part of hisjourney to the fort when his caravan woundaround the foot of a clump of hills and cameunexpectedly upon an encampment of MojaveIndians. It is doubtful which party was themore surprised, the Indians at the sight ofthe strange cavalcade, or the whites at wit-nessing the frantic efforts of the redskins toput space between themselves and the ap-proaching caravan. The sight of the camelswas too much for them. It was the most com-plete rout in the history of the frontier. A little later, when the caravan reached thefort, there was another surprise. The horsesand mules corraled near the fort proved astimid as the Indians, and a general stampedeensued. The corral was broken down, and ittook the soldiers several days to gather in the
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is Ships of the Desert 111 scattered herd. The camels forthwith becameobjects of hatred to the bluecoats. As a means of transportation the camelswere a success. The heat and droiij^ht andsands of the desert were as naui^ht to them,and they throve on hardships that would haveproven fatal to horses or mules, but their ap-proach to a military post was a signal for astampede of the stock, and thc^ camels weremarked for destruction. Every now and then,as opportunity offered, the soldiers would shootdown one or more of the camels till theirnumbc^rs were so reduced that there were notenough for a caravan. Then the remnant ofthe herd was turned loose in the desert, to liveor die as might happen. True to instinct, theliberated animals sought an oasis, and therethey began to multiply. Later, however, hunt-ers shot them for sport, and, so far as is nowknown, they have become extinct. Redwine, the man who introduced the camelsto the deserts of California, closed his earthlycareer in the desert to

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