1850: The Early Expeditions
The United States acquired the present-day American Southwest after the Mexican-American War, drawing multitudes of Euro-American settlers to the territory’s highland deserts. Now more accessible than before, exploring this land enticed these settlers as it came with the prospect of expanding the American railroad network to the West Coast. With this plan in mind, early Euro-American settlers to northern Arizona were particularly impressed by the environment’s vast expanse of ponderosa pine forest, a resource from which they could harvest timber for both commercial use and subsistence.
Lieutenant Edward F. Beale (1822-1893) led the first federally-funded expedition to chart a railroad route along the 35th parallel in 1853. Beale noted in his survey, “We traveled rapidly over a lovely country of open forest and mountain valley, which continually drew exclamations of delight and surprise from every member of the party.” The map pictured here is the product of his travels.
On a separate expedition through the 35th parallel led by Beale in 1857, the explorer left his horses at home and brought a fleet of camels along as pack animals instead. Beale praised them for their ability to haul 700 pounds with ease, travel long distances with minimal water, and traverse rough, rocky terrain that horses and mules would otherwise struggle with.
Hadji Ali (formerly Philip Tedro) was born of Greek and Syrian descent in present-day Izmir, Turkey. Ali bred and trained camels in Algiers before the U.S. Army hired him to serve as a camel driver and guide for the trail-charting expeditions through the Southwest. Ali migrated to Texas in 1856 and guided Beale’s 1857 expedition along the 35th parallel. During this expedition, the party drove camels along the base of the San Francisco Peaks and found their mode of transportation particularly successful.
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