Quartzsite Things to Do

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This sign reads:
Hi Jolly
The famous camel herd with which the name of Hi Jolly is linked constitutes an interesting sidelight of Arizona history…Jefferson Davis (afterward President of the Southern Confederacy) as secretary of war approved a plan to experiment with camels for freighting and communication in the arid southwest…Major Henry C Wayne of the U.S. Army and Lt. D.D. Porter (Later a distinguished Admiral in the Civil War) visited the Levant with the store ship supply and procured 33 camels, which were landed at Indianola Texas February 10, 1856. 41 were added on second voyage…with the first camels came as caretaker Haiji Ali whose Arabic name was promptly changed to Hi Jolly by the soldiers and by this name he became universally know. His Greek name was Philip Tedro on the Beale expedition in 1857 to open a wagon road across Arizona from Fort Defiance to California. The camels under Hi Jolly charge proved their worth nevertheless. The war department abandoned the experiment and the camels were left on the Arizona desert to shift for themselves. Chiefly roaming this particular section. They survived for many years crating interest and excitement…officially the camel experiment enthusiastic in praise of the animals. A fair trial might have resulted in complete success.

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The Last Camp
Of
Hi Jolly
Born somewhere in Syria about 1828
Died at Quartzsite December 16 1802
Came to this country February 10 1856
Camel-driver – Packer Scout over Thirty Years a Faithful and to the U.S. Government
Arizona
Highway Department
1935

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In 1866 Charley Tyson built an adobe stage station in Quartzsite. The station was an important way station on the California-Arizona line because of the availability of good water and grass for the horses. Miners and freighters, hauling mining equipment and military supplies from the river port at Ehrenberg, to the Territorial Capital at Prescott, also stopped here. In addition to the stage station a hotel, called the Oasis Hotel was added in 1899. The Quartzsite Historical Society opened Tyson's Well Museum in February 1980, after extensive restoration work. The museum houses artifacts of the old west, photographs and old mining equipment. Outside in the yard is the original assay shack from the Mariquita Mine, which offers a peak into the everyday life of the miners. Also, in the yard is the handiwork of Walter Barrett. Just to the west of the museum are the ruins of the Oasis Hotel, which is being restored. The museum is open November through March; Wednesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM. Summer hours are 9 AM to 12 PM on Thursdays or by appointment. Admission is Free.

The desert in the southwest United States presented a unique problem for transporting things in the mid-1800s, so in 1856, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis (later President of the Confederacy) imported over 30 camels and hired camel drivers. One of them was a Syrian guy named Haji Ali. some of the US soldiers had trouble with the name and sometimes his name was said quickly so he was called "Hi Jolly". The name stuck. The Camel Corps was never fully tried out because soon after its formation, the Civil War started and the experiment was forgotten. The camels were released into the desert near Quartzsite to fend for themselves.

Hi Jolly, however, remained in the Quartzsite area and tried his hand at scouting, packing, selling water and things to tourists, delivering the "jackass mail" and a variety of other things. He became a very well loved member of the town and the townfolk made this pyramid when he died in 1902. The camel on top is said to be "The Red Ghost" which reportedly terrorized people in and near Quartzsite by running at them out of the dark with a corpse tied to his back for many years.