Camp Verde, Texas

What It's Known For

Camp Verde is known for the United States Army Camel Corps — an 1850s experiment in which the War Department imported camels from North Africa and the Middle East to serve as pack animals in the arid Southwest. The camels were stationed here. The experiment ended with the Civil War, and the camels were sold, released, or simply wandered off. The general store that served the soldiers is still open.

History and Heritage

The U.S. Army established Camp Verde on July 8, 1855, as a frontier post on Verde Creek. The site was chosen for its water, its position on the road between San Antonio and the western forts, and its proximity to Comanche raiding routes.

In 1853, Jefferson Davis — then Secretary of War — persuaded Congress to appropriate $30,000 for an experiment: importing camels to carry supplies across the arid terrain of the American Southwest. Major Henry C. Wayne traveled to Egypt, Turkey, and North Africa to study and purchase the animals. The USS Supply arrived at Indianola, Texas on April 29, 1856 carrying thirty-three camels (one born at sea during the crossing). A second shipment brought the total to approximately eighty animals, all stationed at Camp Verde.

The camels performed well as pack animals. They could carry heavier loads than mules, required less water, and handled rocky terrain without difficulty. But the experiment had problems from the start: the Army mules and horses panicked at the camels' scent, the soldiers disliked handling them, and the specialized knowledge required to manage them (provided largely by hired Arab and Turkish handlers) created logistical complications.

The Civil War ended the experiment. Confederate forces seized Camp Verde in 1861 and had no use for the camels. Some were sold to circuses and zoos. Some were released into the wild. For decades afterward, ranchers in the Hill Country and West Texas reported sighting feral camels — the last confirmed sighting was in the 1890s. Old-timers remembered horses catching the scent of a camel and bolting.

The Army post itself was reactivated briefly after the war but was permanently abandoned in 1869. Stone ruins of the original buildings are visible on private land near the creek.

Camp Verde General Store

The store at Camp Verde has been trading on this site since 1857, when it opened to serve soldiers at the post. The current two-story stone building dates from a later period but occupies the same ground. It has operated continuously (with interruptions) as a general store, post office, and community gathering point for more than 160 years.

Today it functions as a general store and restaurant. The interior has historical displays about the Camel Corps. The food is basic — burgers, sandwiches, pie. It is not a museum; it is a working store that happens to be old.

Address: 817 TX-173 (Camp Verde Rd), Camp Verde, TX 78010. Hours vary seasonally — call ahead or check their social media.

The Land

Camp Verde sits on Verde Creek, a tributary of the Medina River (not the Guadalupe). The terrain is classic Hill Country: limestone, live oak, shallow soil, ranches. It is drier and flatter than the Guadalupe canyon country around Hunt and Ingram. There is no public river access, no park, no trail system. The land is private ranchland in all directions.

This is not a flood-risk area in the way that the Guadalupe corridor is, but Verde Creek does rise in heavy rain. Standard Hill Country caution applies.

Why It Matters

Camp Verde is a one-story town. You come for the Camel Corps history and the general store, or you do not come at all. There is nothing else to do here, and that is not a criticism — it is a description. The store is worth the stop if you are driving between Kerrville and Bandera. The history is genuinely strange and genuinely true. ## The Handlers

The camel experiment required expertise that the U.S. Army did not possess. Major Wayne hired several handlers from the Middle East and North Africa — men who knew how to manage, feed, and doctor camels. The most famous was Hadji Ali, whom the soldiers called "Hi Jolly." He accompanied the first shipment from Egypt and remained in the American Southwest for decades after the experiment ended, eventually settling in Arizona. Other handlers — Greek George, Long Tom, and several unnamed men — worked at Camp Verde during the experiment's active years.

These men were among the first Muslim and Middle Eastern immigrants in Texas. Their presence in a frontier army post in the 1850s is one of those details that complicates any simple narrative about who was in the Hill Country and when.

After the Army

When the post was abandoned in 1869, the buildings were sold. Ranchers used the stone structures for storage and housing. The community that grew up around the old post was never more than a handful of families — enough for a post office (established 1858, still operating) and a school, but never enough for incorporation or any kind of town grid.

The general store is the thread that connects the 1857 trading post to the present. It has changed hands many times, closed and reopened, burned and been rebuilt. But trading has happened on that site for more than 160 years, which makes it one of the oldest continuously operating commercial sites in the Hill Country.

Eighty camels, imported by the U.S. Army, stationed on a creek in the Texas Hill Country, and then forgotten. That is the whole story, and it is enough.

Getting There

Camp Verde is on TX-173 (Bandera Highway) between Kerrville and Bandera. From Kerrville, drive south on TX-173 for about twelve miles. The general store is on the left (east) side of the road. There is no sign for "Camp Verde" as a town — look for the store. The ruins of the original army post are on private land nearby and are not accessible to the public without permission.

If you are driving between Kerrville and Bandera, the store is a natural halfway stop. The road itself is scenic — rolling ranchland, live oak mottes, occasional deer — but it is a working highway with truck traffic, not a scenic byway.