Philip Tedro was one of less than a dozen Greeks who took part in the United States Army's ill-fated experiment with the use of camels as dray animals in the American west. In the years just preceding the American Civil War these Greeks were involved not simply with driving and caring for the animals but also be-came much needed scouts for the United States Army. Yet it was after their participation in the Camel experiment that their real impact on the American southwest took place.

Archival documents, public monuments and popular culture all attest to the undeniable fact that this small group of Greek men led notable lives. Moreover these early pioneer Greeks continue to powerfully influence the world of America Western history and legends.

Literalists may laugh at such claims. How could the actions of a handful of Greek men, in the 1850s, have any direct impact on the lives of those Americans among whom they were destined to live? While this point can be easily refuted, more is at work here. All such literalist positions automatically ignore the symbolic and mythic accounts concerning the actions of Tedro. That Americans, today, seek out the grave of Philip Tedro and participate in full-dressed reenactments of the Camel expedition's scouting of the American southwest is completely lost on those who only take an absolutist view of historical cause and effect. As we shall see Philip Tedro continues to spark something in the American Imagination that evolves in new ways with each passing year.

By focusing solely on the chronological events of Tedro's life we would totally miss events and actors who have accrued new meanings to this man and his actions. It is the inner workings of the American Imagination that has, and continues to; alter the meanings of this man's life. For it is Americans and not Greek-Americans who today honor the person and the legend of Philip Tedro, the man best known, to them, as Hi Jolly, the Camel Driver.

But first, something of the actual history, behind the tangle of legends, monuments, reenactments, and celebrations.

Camel Expedition

On February 10, 1856, some eight Greeks arrived at the Port of Indianola in Lavaca county Texas aboard the USS Supply. "Go West Greek George" by Steven Dean Pastis is the only published account, in Greek or English, that specifically identifies all eight men (c.f. Greek Accent 1984). These pioneers were Yiorgos Caralambo (later known as Greek George), Hadji Ali (Hi Jolly), Mimico Teodora (Mico), Hadjiatis Yannaco (Long Tom), Anastasio Coralli (Short Tom), Michelo Georgios, Yanni IIIato and Giorgios Costi. Needless to say handling and care of these great beasts of bur-den required special knowledge and abilities. Hi Jolly, Greek George and the others were hired to teach the soldiers how to handle and pack the animals.

With all this in mind, in 1855, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was told of an innovative plan to import camels to help build and supply a federal wagon route from Texas to California. Davis approved the plan to experiment with camels for freighting and communication in the arid southwest. Davis proposed a Camel Military Corps to Congress. "For military purposes, and for reconnaissance's, it is believed the dromedary would supply a want now seriously felt in our service," he explained. Congress agreed and appropriated $30,000.

Major Henry C. Wayne of the army along with Lt. D.D. Porter of the navy visited the Near East with the USS Supply and brought 33 camels, which were landed at Port Indianola, Texas on February 10, 1856. On a second trip the military brought additional animals, such that the total number was one hundred. "Uncle Sam's Camels," as they were quickly nicknamed, were of the one-hump dromedary breed from the Middle East countries and one large Bactrian, which came from the Amur River country of Mongolia. With much difficulty, they were loaded onto a Navy ship (with part of its deck modified to accommodate the large creatures) and transported to Texas.

From Port Indianola the expedition traveled to Camp Verde, a frontier outpost in Kerr County, Texas. Once the animals and their handlers reached Fort Davis Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1822-1893) assumed command. By November 25, 1856 Hi Jolly is cited, as a "camel herder", with a salary of $15 a month. On June 25, 1857, under Beale's command 25 camels, 44 soldiers, 2 camel drovers (Hi Jolly and Yiorgos Caralambo) and numerous horses and mules left Fort Davis to chart the shortest distance between Ft. Defiance in Texas and the Colorado River. From Ft. Defiance the expedition traveled to San Antonio and then onward to EI Paso. From EI Paso Beale roughly followed Lt. Amiel Whipple's trail west across Arizona through the Flagstaff area. The Expedition traveled due west and slightly north of Flagstaff through Peach Springs and Truxton Wash (the latter was named after Beale's son, Truxton). Moving through the Kingman area the Expedition made it to the banks of the Colorado River.

The camels were loaded with 600 to 800 pounds each and traveled 25 to 30 miles a day. If the animals fared well, a series of Army posts could be set up later along the route to relay mail and supplies across the Southwest. The expedition arrived at Fort Teton, California in November of 1857.

After reaching California the expedition returned to Texas, a success - at least to Beale. "The harder the test they (the camels) are put to, the more fully they seem to justify all that can be said of them," Beale wrote. "They pack water for days under a hot sun and never get a drop; they pack heavy burdens of corn and oats for months and never get a grain; and on the bitter greasewood and other worthless shrubs, not only subsist, but keep fat.

He concluded, "I look forward to the day when every mail route across the continent will be conducted and worked altogether with this economical and noble brute. But perhaps he was too optimistic. What he didn't say was that the camels had difficulty with the West's rocky soil. And prospectors' burros and mules -and even Army mules - were afraid of the odd-looking creatures and would sometimes panic at their sight.

Still, in 1858, then-Secretary of War John Floyd told Congress, "The entire adaptation of camels to military operations on the Plains may now be taken as demonstrated. He urged Congress to authorize the purchase of 1,000 more camels. Congress didn't act, however, as it was pre-occupied with trouble brewing between the North and South. In 1860 Secretary Floyd, again, made a similar futile recommendation. Between late 1857 and 1860 Beale used the camels - and, evidently, continued to use Hi Jolly and Greek George's expertise at handling them - to haul supplies back and forth from Los Angeles to Fort Teton by way of the Santa Clarita Valley (and Fremont Pass, later named Beale's Cut). In 1859, Hi Jolly traveled with the camels to Fort Tejon, staying some 5 1/2 months between 17 November 1859 and mid-April 1860. The camels were then taken to the Los Angeles US Army Quartermaster Depot.

On February 26, 1864, thirty-four of the camels, then in route for Benicia, California were auctioned off upon their arrival. The remaining sixty-six camels were auctioned at Camp Verde on March 18, 1866. The camels found homes in California zoos, while others were bought by circuses and side shows. Although the majority of the camels were disposed of in these public sales it has always been said that a few escaped into the desert. These camels thrived in their new homeland. In time these wild camels were to be shot by prospectors and hunters as pests. When the last of the camels were finally abandoned at Fort Yuma in 1866 so were the handlers.

The events of the camel experiment cover only roughly ten years in the lives of all the individuals involved. The later experiences Hi Jolly, Greek George and the other Greeks have yet to see detailed documented examination.

Hi Jolly in the Wild West

After his service in the camel experiment Hi Jolly was to spend another 38 years in the American southwest. Tedro would divide his time between hauling freight (over roads he had helped to explore and establish), prospecting, and serving the United States cavalry as a scout. Hi Jolly first started a freighting business between various Colorado River ports and mining camps to the east immediately after the Expedition ended. Later, he changed routes and established a camel freight line between Yuma and Tucson. For various reasons, ultimately all of the old drovers' business ventures failed.

The on again off again nature of Hi Jolly's freight and drayage ventures were interspaced by work with the Army forts, just then, springing up after the Civil War. At various times and in various places Hi Jolly served the Army as a mule packer, guide and scout. From May 13, 1868, to August 7, 1869 Hi Jolly served as Pack Master at Fort McDowell with a salary of $100 per month. For reasons that remain unclear Hi Jolly left the Army once again and then returned on October 25, 1869 as simply a Packer and for only $45 a month.

It has been said that Hi Jolly worked as a prospector during his various departures from serving the Army. Stories also circulate that this was the period when Hi Jolly turned his last camel loose into the desert near Gila Bend returning to Fort McDowell soon after. On January 1, 1870, Tedro's designation changed once again. Now the man is cited as Guide and Scout and is said to have is "served as such until his discharge on June 20, 1870."

To gain some perspective on Hi Jolly's activities and role in the settlement of the southwest we should note that the Battle of the Little Big Horn did not take place until June 25, 1876. This was the infamous battle between the U.S. Army's seventh cavalry, led by George Armstrong Custer (guided by Crow and Arikara scouts) and several bands of Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. Also known as "Custer's Last Stand," the entire command of 220 men (cavalry soldiers, officers and Indian scouts) was wiped out.

Hi Jolly's exact whereabouts and precise actions are unclear until, once again in 1880 he was employed, by the Army in Tucson. It was during his tenure at Tucson that the a man most people in the West knew as "Hi Jolly" is said to have taken on his "Greek name" Philip Tedro (sometimes also spelled Teadro and even Teadrow) when he became a naturalized citizen on May 7, 1857.

Since this was also the same year Tedro married we can suspect that more than just reemployment with the Army occupied his thoughts. It has been said that Hi Jolly emphasized his Greek ethnicity, at this particular time, so that he would be able to marry. Whatever the case maybe we know for certain that in 1880 Tedro married Gertrude Serna of Tucson and lived in that city for a time. He is reported to have been with the Army at Huachuca and other posts until the surrender of Geronimo and the last of the Chiricahua Apaches in 1886. As with so many other moments in his life Philip Tedro's role as one of the very last of the "Indian Scouts" employed by the US Army during this crucial moment of settlement in the American southwest, has never been systematically studied. In the meantime he became the father of two girls, Amelia and Herminia, both born in Tucson.

A few years before he died Hi Jolly moved to a cabin near Quartzsite where he mined with a burro. The town of Quartzsite (who's original name was Tyson's Wells, which is how the old Greek would have known it) is a high desert town on the very fringe of the Mojave Desert.

Sometime after 1889, Hi Jolly went to Ajo and tried unsuccessfully to collect one or two of the surviving camels for transportation. During this period he stayed frequently with the Cullings family west of Wickenburg. Daniel Cullings, Sr. reported that Hi Jolly brought him a quarter grown camel calf and gave it to him. It finally wandered off and was never seen again. Until his death Hi Jolly was largely supported by merchant Mike Welz and other friends. Arizona Congressman Mark Smith tried to get him a pension for Tedro from the United States Army but was unsuccessful. It seems that since Tedro had never formally enlisted in the Army but was only hired by it he was not entitled to a pension.

To gain some perspective on Tedro's pioneer status in the American west it was Frederick Jackson Turner's 1893 lecture, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" at the Chicago World's Exposition that is understood as the moment when the era for founding the American West had come to a close. Tedro was to live, work and influence events in the American West during the very years it was first explored and settled.

In the summer of 1896 we "see" Hi Jolly one last time. A Mr. Ross of Phoenix was visiting Agua Catiente Springs. Once there, he met Tedro, and was told something of the man's life as "Hi Jolly." Mr. Ross took two pictures of Tedro and his burros that found their way into museum archives. Hi Jolly was riding his burro "Johnny." On the back of one of these photographs is the memory that Tedro told "Johnny" he was "getting dam stylish getting' your picture took.'

Philip Tedro died walking along the old desert road from the Colorado River to Wickenburg on December 16, 1902, at the age 73. Tedro was buried in the Quartzsite Cemetery. All this was a full ten years before the Arizona Territory became the 48th state in the Union.

The legends have it that Hi Jolly was searching for one of his camels when he died. That Tedro did in fact find the camel during a sand storm and was discovered dead the next day with his arm across the camel's neck is one of this man's most en-during legends. Newspaper accounts report that to his dying day, Hi Jolly believed that a few of the camels still roamed the desert. And he was right. The last wild camel in Arizona was captured in 1946. The last reported sighting of a wild camel in North America was in Baja California in 1956.

The Last Camp

Tedro was buried in a simple grave with a wooden headboard. It is said that all the remaining old prospectors attended Hi Jolly's funeral. For more than 30 years, Tedro's grave lay forgotten, until James L. Edwards of the Arizona Highway Department had a handsome pyramid tomb erected over Tedro's gravesite in 1934. Ten feet tall the new grave marker is a pyramid-shaped monument made of the stones from the area such as black malapai rock, petrified wood, gold-bearing quartz, and natural red, white and blue rocks (symbolizing the flag). Some of these stones also feature ancient petroglyphs still to be seen on their exterior surfaces. Crowning the pyramid is the silhouette of a one-humped camel made of copper.

The copper silhouette that tops the pyramid catches the rays of the sun in twilight. This fact is frequently mentioned as it said to symbolize the various legends of Red Ghost the camel. Without going into detail it is enough to report here, that various camels, that were part of the ill-fated experiment such as "Old Douglas," "Topsy," and "Red Ghost," each have their own documented history as well as legends. So striking did these animals prove in the American West that even the indigenous Amerindians soon had stories about these animals. It is the Indian name, translated into English, which still denotes Arizona's, Camelback Mountain.

A vault in the base of the pyramid is said to contain a few old letters, Hi Jolly's government contracts as camel driver and scout, and less than a dollar in change (his total wealth when he died). The vault also contains something else, the ashes of Topsy, and the last camel from the original herd. As fate would have it Topsy had died in 1934 at the Garfield Zoo in Los Angeles nearly eighty years old.

The dedication ceremony for what was called "Hi Jolly's Last Camp" received "a big blowout," as it was, then, described, with Governor B. B. Moeur and other dignitaries all in attendance. Various Arizona Highway historical markers were also erected and so continue to identify the gravesite. Today, this pyramid gravestone is one of the most visited tourist spots in the American southwest.