Drum Barracks Civil War Museum, CA – 24 SEP 2011

The last remaining original Civil War era military facility in the Los Angeles area is located in Wilmington; the Drum Barracks was the US Army Headquarters for Southern California and Arizona Territory from 1862 to 1871. 

Once consisting of sixty acres, the structure housing the museum served as the junior Officer’s quarters of the camp.

This week-end they were celebrating “The Civil War on the Home Front September 1861” with activities, programs, demonstrations and information, focusing on the women and children of the era.

There were quilting and sewing demonstrations, Milliners providing hat making information, and Civil War Recruiters for the Army, Navy and Marines.

I was seeing Camel images everywhere…then I learned the story.

The US Army had a Camel Corps for six years. When Jefferson Davis was Secretary of War for the United States, he came up with the idea of using camels to carry large amounts of supplies across the desert. It’s been called history’s most successful failure. Link to KCET - When Camels Came to Los Angeles

At some point a few of them were at Fort Drum. The photo below was taken between April 1862 and November 1863.

Camel in Center