GHOST CAMELS OF THE WILD WEST? The US Army’s Bizarre Desert Experiment

Before the Civil War, the US military had a wild idea: swap horses for humps. In this episode of Weird Americana, we uncover the true story of the US Camel Corps.

In 1856, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis imported dozens of camels from the Middle East to the American Southwest, believing they were the key to conquering the "Great American Desert." We’ll explore the trek across Texas and Arizona, the soldiers who hated their new mounts, and why the project ultimately collapsed.

But the weirdest part? The "Red Ghost" and the feral camels that were spotted wandering the American desert for nearly a century afterward. It’s a 10-minute look at the most unusual military unit in U.S. history.