Bactrian camels (consigned to Calbreath) aboard, arrived at that city on April 14,
1862. The camels were herded into a lot at the corner of Douglas and Johnston
Streets for a brief period, and then were loaded aboard the steamer Enterprise and
taken to New Westminster. The British Columbian had this to say of their arrival
there: “Camels, twenty-one in number, arrived by the steamer Enterprise on Monday
(May 5) and went up to Douglas yesterday on the barge in tow of the Flying
Dutchman. Their appearance on the wharf caused great wonder and a ‘hy-you waw
waw’ among the Indians, who seemed in great perplexity to understand the precise
nature of the extraordinary animals.” It is noticed that the number of camels in
the herd had diminished by one between the time of their arrival in Victoria and
the time of their arrival in New Westminster. The missing member, a young animal,
haunted the streets and James Bay district of Victoria for some months after the
departure of the others. It may be conjectured that the appearance of a camel, even
a comparatively young one, in the early morning hours, had a sobering effect on at
least a few worthy Victorians at the time.

The camels were put to work at once carrying supplies and gold over the portages
of the Douglas-Lillooet road in the Cariboo, and for approximately a year they saw |
regular service. William S. Lewis, writing in the Washington Historical Quarterly,
says: “THE HISTORY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA states that the Bactrian camels
imported and used in British Columbia in 1861 (sic) subsisted on brush, could carry
1000 pounds each, travel thirty to forty miles a day, and go six to ten days without
water.” If all this were true, and it all tallys rather well with the descriptions of
the camel’s capabilities as a beast of burden, the camel caravan should have been a
pretty valuable asset to its owners, and a blessing to the entire Cariboo. Moreover,
there is evidence that the owners of the camels parted with them with great reluctance,
and only under extreme pressure from their horse and mule train competitors, and
from the public in general.

The “hy-you waw waw” that the appearance of the camels excited among the
Indians in New Westminster was to prove a very mild preview of subsequent events.
From the moment the exotic caravan took to the trail in the Cariboo the record is
one of broken harness, broken whiskey bottles, and broken hearts. Horses, mules

‘and oxen did everything but climb trees at the first whiff of the camels. Before long

the entire population of the Cariboo was enraged and some irate citizens were
threatening damage suits. An appeal was made to Governor Douglas to prohibit the
use of the camels on the trail. Then a further complication arose; the padded feet
of the camels were adapted to the sands of the desert and could not cope with the
hard and rocky terrain along the trail. Attempts to devise shoes of canvas or rawhide
proved ineffective. Accordingly the camels had to be taken off the job.

Mr. W. T. Hayhurst, writing in The Sixth Report of the Okanagan Historical
Society, states: “When they were taken off the Cariboo road they gradually became
dispersed. Some were brought down to the coast where they were sold and taken
back to the States; some were used as pack animals on the trail from Hope to
Kootenay; some were turned out on the North Thompson, and some for years were
kept at Grand (sic) Prairie.’ The camels which were kept at Grande Prairie were
never used as beasts of burden. In the spring they were sheared and the hair was
used for stuffing. At least two of the Cariboo camels are reported to have been killed
for food. Alder and Barry are said to have slaughtered and dressed one as meat at
150 Mile Post, but found no ready sale for the product. People at Kootenay in 1860
must have been either hungrier or less prejudiced, however, for a camel killed and
eaten there in that year was pronounced to be “most delicious when fried”. In point
of fact, the flesh of young camels is not‘unlike veal, and is considered a delicacy in
Arabia, while certain Mongolian tribes of Central Asia depend on the Bactrian camel
for meat, milk, clothing and shelter, in addition to transportation.

The last of the Grande Prairie camels to die was called “The Lady”. She became
sick and weak, and was unable to rise, and her owner, Mr. Henry Ingram, had her
shot by Noba or Nobia, an Indian. Mr. Ingram was one of the original partners of
the camel syndicate. His daughter, Mrs. Annie King, clearly remembered the camels
at Grande Prairie, but was too young at the time to remember in which year
“The Lady” was shot. A neighbour, however, Mr. Thomas Joseph Clemiston, saw
the camel despatched one day while on his way home from school. He was unable
to state with certainty the year in which the incident occurred, but is sure that it
was during his last year of school. According to his mother, Mrs. R. M. Clemiston,
this was 1896, the year after her husband's death.

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