Storytelling is one of the oldest and most widely practiced art forms in human history. It has served as light entertainment when needed, but more importantly, it is a means of preserving orally the history of people and their culture.  Some of the greatest masters of storytelling can be found here in the Big Bend region of Texas. I believe that there are two reasons for this: firstly, the lack of technology that continues to this day has caused people to need to create their own entertainment. Secondly, the daily struggle for survival in this harsh land  can cause even the most mundane tasks to become a rich supply of source material for the most fascinating stories. ​

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I first became aware of this rich tradition many years ago when all of the locals would gather every weekend at the local cantina to relax and recount the events of the previous week. Occasionally, we might have guests from out-of-town, and that's when the best stories would come out. I figured out very quickly that around 30 percent of these stories were true. The problem was that you could never be sure which 30 percent that might be. ​

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A favorite story involved feral camels. This one was usually told late into the night after drinks had been flowing freely for a while and when the guests were simultaneously entertained and confused, having no idea at that point what to believe.​

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It goes like this: Around 1919, the United States was a breath away from going to war with Mexico, having nearly 100,000 U.S. troops stationed on the southern border. Supplying such a large army was difficult because the only reliable means of transport were pack mule trains. Despite the widespread use of all types of motor vehicles during World War I, for some reason, it was not feasible here. The mules presented their own problems, however; they were willful and required a considerable amount of water to survive.  Some Army bigwig then decided that the answer to the problem would be to replace the pack mules with camels that were imported from the Saharan Desert for this purpose.​

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For reasons that nobody can explain, the experiment did not work out as expected; the project was abandoned, and the camels were turned loose to make their own living. Remarkably, many survived and reproduced, and to this day, there are still wild camels running around the Chihuahuan Desert. ​​

This story usually ends with someone buying a drink for the storyteller while expressing great admiration for their ability to invent such an outrageous tale.  But the craziest part of this particular story? It is 100% true.