The United States Congress appropriates thirty thousand…
March 1855 CE
The United States Congress appropriates thirty thousand dollars to create the U.S. Camel Corps on March 3, 1855.
In 1836, Major George H. Crosman, United States Army, who was convinced from his experiences in the Indian wars in Florida that camels would be useful as beasts of burden, had encouraged the War Department to use camels for transportation.
In 1848 or earlier, Major Henry C. Wayne conducted a more detailed study and recommended importation of camels to the War Department.
Wayne's opinions agreed with those of then Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi.
Davis was unsuccessful until he was appointed as Secretary of War in 1853.
When U.S. forces were required to operate in arid and desert regions, the President and Congress began to take the idea seriously.
Newly appointed as Secretary of War by President Franklin Pierce, Davis had found the Army needed to improve transportation in the southwestern U.S., which he and most observers think a great desert.
In his annual report for 1854, Davis wrote, "I again invite attention to the advantages to be anticipated from the use of camels and dromedaries for military and other purposes...."