Author

Steve Brown

Steve Brown is a journalist and historian based in the Mojave Desert, not far from the route Hi Jolly first took across California. He has encountered many strange things in the desert, but no camels—not yet.

Articles by this author

Hi Jolly – Uncle Sam’s Camel Captain
History
As a young man in Ottoman Turkey, Hadji Ali became an expert camel handler. In 1857 he accepted the US Army’s offer to assist its deployment of camels in the southwestern deserts, where his name was Americanized to “Hi Jolly.” His skills proved valuable, and yet he died penniless. Today his memory endures in legend as much as in fact—and on one miniature pyramid in Arizona.

Steve Brown

Articles by this author

Hi Jolly – Uncle Sam’s Camel Captain