Where Have California’s Camels Gone?

November 3, 2018 Rob O'Keefe Rural

Gwinn Heap’s illustration for Jefferson Davis’ (at that time Secretary of War) report to the U.S. Congress in 1857. The drawings illustrated the journey of the camels to the United States.

We’ve seen how the overpopulation of introduced mules and wild horses have overgrazed and even decimated some wildland and rangeland habitats in California. But did you know that camels originated in North America millions of years ago, migrated, and then disappeared here during the last glacial advance only about 15,000 years ago? Humans reintroduced them during the 1800s until they again disappeared from California landscapes.

Here, we introduce you to Stacey Beckwith and her fascinating camel research project.

The U.S. Camel Corps

Thanks again to Dr. Jing Liu who supervised this latest map story.

Tags: camels Colorado Desert Colorado River

Rob O'Keefe

Rob O’Keefe is the creator and primary webmaster for our site. He has worn many hats in his professional career including newspaper reporter, business analyst, GIS analyst, webmaster and interpretive naturalist. He holds degrees in geography, journalism as well as certificates in GIS and computer programming. Rob has been involved with the Rediscovering The Golden State text and web site since 2005.