Hi Jolly

Hadji "Hi Jolly" Ali was a Syrian camel driver hired by US Army in 1856. Ali was the lead camel driver the US Army's experimental US Camel Corps in using camels in the dry deserts of the Southwest. After successfully traveling round trip from Texas to California, the experiment went bust, partly due to the problem that the Army's burros, horses and mules feared the large animals, often panicking, and the tensions of the American Civil War lead to Congress not approving more funds for the Corps. In 1864, the camels were finally auctioned of in Benicia, California and Camp Verde, Arizona.

After the Camel Corps, Ali attempted to run a freight business between the Colorado River and mining establishments to the east using a few camels he kept. Unfortunately, the business failed and Ali released his camels into the Arizona desert near Gila Bend. Ali eventually married and moved to Quartzsite where he mined and occationally scouted for the US government. He died in 1902 and was buried in the Quartzsite Cemetery.

Gravesite and Monument

In 1935, the Governor of Arizona Benjamin Moeur dedicated a monument to Hadji Ali and the Camel Corps in the Quartzsite Cemetery. The monument, located at his gravesite, is a pyramid built from local stones and topped with a copper camel. The monument is the most visited location in Quartzsite.

External Links

• Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce: Grave of "Hi Jolly"
• Out West Newspaper: U.S. Camel Corps remembered in Quartzsite, Arizona