Old Camp Verde

Old Camp Verde
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
One of the markers at the Old Camp Verde site
Location:	Camp Verde Rd Kerr County, Texas
Coordinates:	29°53′25″N 99°7′13″W / 29.89028°N 99.12028°W / 29.89028; -99.12028Coordinates: 29°53′25″N 99°7′13″W / 29.89028°N 99.12028°W / 29.89028; -99.12028
Built:	1856
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	73001968[1]
Added to NRHP:	May 25, 1973

Camp Verde was a United States Army facility established on July 8, 1856 in Kerr County, Texas along the road from San Antonio to El Paso.

The camp was the headquarters for U.S. Camel Corps, which experimented with using dromedaries as pack animals in the southwestern United States. The Army imported camels in 1856 and 1857, using them with some success in extended surveys in the Southwest. The camels did not get along with the Army's horses and mules. The soldiers found the camels difficult to handle and they detested the smell of the animals.^[2]

During the Civil War, in 1861 Confederate troops captured more than 80 camels and two foreign drivers at Camp Verde. When Union troops reoccupied Camp Verde in 1865, they found about 10 camels remaining.

Camp Verde was abandoned on April 1, 1869. Ruins of the officers' quarters are located on what is now private land. A Texas state historic marker and the entrance gate stand by the road. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 25, 1973.

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2006-03-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ Herbert M. Hart, Old Forts of the Southwest, Superior Publishing Company, Seattle, Washington, 1964, First Edition