Tales of Quartzsite, Ariz., a camel driver and the desert

by Phyllis McCrossin

We meandered across the country and ended up in Quartzsite, Ariz., on our sixth day on the road. I have to admit, and this may offend some, Quartzsite is not my favorite place to stay. But it is free and that’s a big draw. We have a reservation at a county park near our daughter on Wednesday and since we need some repairs, this is as good a place as any to stop.

I would say Quartzsite is a wild and beautiful country but it’s difficult to see with all the other RVers who are parked here calling this home. That sounds pretty negative, doesn’t it?

Quartzsite is surrounded by Bureau of Land Management (the original BLM) land. So camping in some designated areas is free. These areas are known as short-term visitor dispersed spots, meaning you can stay 14 days for free and then have to move on. There is also an area referred to as a Long Term Visitor Area(LTVA) where campers can stay from September through April – for a $180 fee. For that fee you get a pit toilet, a dance floor and RV dump station. Quartzsite also has regular RV “resorts” with full hookups.

For a Michigan girl who loves green trees and grass, the Arizona desert is, umm, dry. The landscape is flat, sparsely vegetated with creosote bushes and what they call trees (palo verde, ironwood, and mesquite) as well as cacti. But there is beauty everywhere if you look for it — the mountains in the distance are purple against the sun and I can see awesome sunrises and sunsets through either window in the front of the trailer.

Early this morning there was a coyote somewhere outside the trailer. I’ve often heard them in the distance – even at home – but never so close. This one was probably within a stones throw of the trailer. And I don’t throw very well these days.

Yesterday and today are incredibly windy. King and I have retreated to our trailer. He is watching football and I’m keeping myself busy with writing and reading. I have some paranormal romance novels stored away on my Kindle.

We also have company.

We have a friend from South Haven who left on a nomad travel adventure about a month before we did. We keep in touch via text messages and discovered we would be in Quartzite at the same time so for the next few days we are socializing. I provide the coffee, he provides the cookies.

Today while King and I drove to town looking for cigars I saw a sign for the Hi Jolly Monument. We are staying at the Hi Jolly dispersed campsite, so I figured it might be worth checking in out.

Hi Jolly or Hadji Ali, was born in Syria as Philip Tedro. His father was Syrian who converted to Christianity and his mother was Greek. As a young adult Ali converted to Islam and after going to Mecca to perform the jajj (pilgrimage) he called himself Hadji Ali – Hi Jolly was no doubt an Americanized version of his name.

(For one brief moment the politically correct version of me was offended. But I have a very Dutch maiden name. Not only has the original spelling of my name been bastardized – my father changed it further after joining the Army in 1942. Some things simply are…).

Hadji Ali worked as a camel breeder and trainer. He served with the French Army in Algiers before signing on as a camel driver for the U.S. Army in 1856. He was one of several men hired by the Army to introduce camels to the U.S. to be used to transport cargo across the desert. Ali was the lead camel driver during the Army’s experiment with the U.S. Camel Corps.

Apparently, the experiment was a failure as army mules, horses and burros were terrified of camels. The start of the Civil War led to congress not approving more funds for the Camel Corps.

Ali became a US citizen in 1890 and used his birth name of Philip Tedro. He married Gertrudis Serna in Tucson. They had two children.

Ali moved to Quartzsite, where he mined and occasionally scouted for the Army. He died in 1902 and was buried in Quartzsite.

So now, for me, the mystery of the camel logos, streets named Camel, Pyramid or Oasis in Quartzsite has been answered.