Camels and Bison – California’s Gold (709)

Huell goes in search of two animals found in our state today which aren’t supposed to be here. First, he travels to Catalina Island in search of historic buffalo – the descendants of fourteen which were brought over from the mainland for a silent movie, The Vanishing American, shot in 1924. Next, Huell travels to Fort Tejon State Historic Park between Bakersfield and Los Angeles, in search of camels used during the 1850’s by the U.S. Army in hopes of developing improved transportation across the arid west. It was dubbed the “great camel experiment” and was a bizarre chapter in our states history book.

 1996