Camel Hair Art

19th and 20th Centuries
• The United States Army established the U.S. Camel Corps, which was stationed in California in the 19th century. One may still see brick stables at the Benicia Arsenal in Benicia, California, where they serve as artists' and artisans' studio spaces. During the American Civil War, camels were used at an experimental stage, but were not used any further, as they were unpopular with the men. Some escaped and their descendants roamed the arid parts of the American West until as late as the early 20th century.
• France created a méhariste camel corps as part of the Armée d'Afrique in the Sahara from 1902, replacing regular units of Algerian spahis and tirailleurs earlier used to patrol the desert boundaries. The camel-mounted units remained in service until the end of French rule in 1962. The French transferred the French personnel to other units and disbanded the locally recruited méharistes.