The Camel Boy

                  Selby Parker, so moved by the events of historical Camp Verde, returned to his Mississippi home to write a novel about the  tragedies and triumphs in Bandera circa 1860.
                 

                            By Jessica Hawley - Lifestyles Editor

               The Civil War was a tumultuous epoch for America.  Established states within the country engaged in a four-year-long conflict  that pitted North against South, friend against friend and brother agaisnt    brother against brother. The confederacy claimed the  southern-most portion of the  United States, from the east coast to territories west of the
                  Mississippi. Camp Verde, 13 miles north of Bandera, earned its historical status for the dichotomy of innovative yet horrific events played out there.
                  So inspired by the accounts of Camp Verde and the infamous Bandera  tragedy which occurred nearby, author Dr. Selby Parker recently  completed "The Camel Boy, a Novel of the Civil War," a fictional story  story based on the role that the war played in shaping the life and
attitudes of an Irish youth orphaned on  the Texas frontier.
                  "In writing my first book, 'The Man from Bandera,' I wanted my hero Red Sage to be from Texas, since he would be traveling home down down Interstate 20 from Tennessee with a prized horse in tow. In researching  Texas for a location, I found that Bandera was advertised as the  'The Cowboy Capital of the World.' While researching Bandera forr background information for the book, I learned of the camels at Camp Verde and read J.M. Hunter's account of the tragedy of Bandera Hills" Parker said.
                  The U.S. Camel Corps first arrived in San Antonio on June 18, 1856.  In August that same year, they arrived at Green Valley, officially dubbed  Camp Verde as a U.S. Cavalry post under the direction of Colonel  Robert E. Lee.
                  An experimental expedition, the dromedary camels were commissioned by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, primarily due to their  tolerance for the hot and arid conditions customary in the southwest.The camels carried supplies to and from San Antonio
  and proved to be much more efficient than horses. 
          . It was reported that a caravan of camels could commute to San Antonio in two days rather than a horses' three, because less water stops  were necessary.
                  "It took Davis three years to finally persuade Congress to use camel s on the Texas Frontier to haul freight and heavy equipment required of a Cavalry regiment in the field.
                  Congress appropriated $30,000 in the spring of 1855 for the venture," Parker wrote in his prologue. "Thirty three camels were procured in  Egypt and shipped to Indianola, Texas...forty one additional camels would arrive later, after an arduous journey by sea."
  
                  "The Camel Boy" transports readers back to 1853, from which point  they follow a story woven around the atrocities of war and a familiall loyalty borne beyond blood.
                  "As for the construct of the book, I took each year and researched the historical accounts from 1853 - 1866 and attempted to write a narrative of the times," Parker said. "I also wrote the book for young people in Texas in the hope that it would create some interest in their reading about the Civil War west of the Mississippi."
                  A tragedy not uncommon for the era occurred on a summer evening in1863 near Julian Creek. Chronicled by J. Marvin Hunter the execution  of eight men stains the site still, marked only by a headstone bearing their names.
                  Under the command of Major W.J. Alexander, a troop of 25 men in service to McCord's Frontier Regiment of Texas Cavalry 
pursued a small group of nine men traveling through Bandera to 
Hondo.
                  The men yielded their arms and belongings to the troop and began an overnight journey toward Camp Verde to deal with authorities there.
                  Falsely accused of evading confederate service, some members of the troop insisted on hanging the men before their arrival at camp With a noose fashioned from horsehair, the men were hung one by one, each watching and waiting his turn.
                  One of the victims, Bill Sawyer, asked to be shot to death instead of hung. He was obliged, shot once in the arm and once in the back, the second fatal blow made with such force that  the wooden ramrod from the gun penetrated his body and buried   over 10 inches into the ground.
                  Hunter wrote that Joseph H. Poor, who was camped near where   the execution took place, notified Justice of the Peace O.B. 
Miles, Robert Ballantyne, George Hay, Amasa Clark and John 
Pyka. The posse buried the bodies and kept record of the men killed.
                  Their accounts would later be used as grand jury testimonials  in which the eight men murdered would finally be vindicated  three years later, though none of the men indicted were ever 
arrested. Not of them, including Alexander, could be located   for trial or punishment.
                  "I was fascinated by the fact that Major Alexander was never  held accountable," Parker said. "They were a motley crew by   all accounts who carried out the foul deed."
                  The oak, known as The Bandera Tragedy Tree, stands today on   private property, the last living witness to the murders.
                  Nearby, the grave is marked with an inscribed tombstone which  reads, "C.J. Sawyer, W.M. Sawyer, George Thayre, William 
Shumake, Jack Whitmire, Jake Kyle, John Smart, Mr. Van Winkle,  Died July 25, 1863. Remember friends, as you pass by; as you 
are now, so once was I; as I am now, you soon will be; prepare 
for death and follow me."
                  The ninth person in the group of unfortunate men, reportedly a 16-year-old boy, escaped lynching by the troop. His whereabouts have never been discovered.
                  Parker  dedicated "The Camel Boy" to Bandera's Frontier Times  Museum, in memory of J. Marvin Hunter.