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The answer to this month’s Travel Challenge was Edward Fitzgerald Beale and the winner is Face who was the first person to answer correctly. (Hurray to Leah who also figured out our mystery man!)

Unfortunately, Beale is one of those characters who—even though he accomplished much in service for his country—has mostly been forgotten. In 1845 when Beale was 23 years old he was sent on an undercover mission for the Navy to sail to England and assess that country’s attachment to the Oregon Territory. Upon his return in 1846 Beale reported to President Polk that England was preparing for armed defense of the region which they perceived as theirs. Beale received a promotion for his efforts and was immediately dispatched to California to help the U.S. in its fight with Mexico.

During the Battle of San Pasqual (near San Diego) in December of that same year—as the small American force was surrounded by the Mexican Army—Beale, Kit Carson, and another man crawled through enemy lines to rally reinforcements. A couple years later, in 1848, it was Beale who rode disguised through dangerous Mexican territory carrying proof of the all-important gold strike in California to Washington D.C. In 1851, not quite a year after being promoted to Lieutenant, Beale resigned from the Navy and moved to California with his family. But the U.S. wasn’t done with him yet.

In 1853 President Fillmore appointed Beale to serve as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada, a position he handled admirably until 1856. A year later Beale was selected by President Buchanan to work for the U.S. Army surveying and building a road from New Mexico to California. After his success with that road, President Lincoln appointed Beale as the Surveyor General of California and Nevada in 1861. Starting in 1865 Beale began buying up Mexican land grants in California amassing close to 300,000 acres (which is now the Tejon Ranch—the state’s largest privately owned chunk of land). And still, the government was not finished with Beale: in 1876 President Grant asked Beale to serve as Ambassador to Austria-Hungary.

Even with all his exploits and long career of service many people forget about Beale (except Face and Leah). If people remember Beale at all it is because Beale had another directive during his 1857 wagon road building mission—to test the efficacy of using camels in the Army. Beale’s survey crew included roughly 25 camels which had been imported from the Middle East along with a few camel drivers. In his journal Beale raved about the animals’ hardiness and ability to survive on little water and minimal vegetation. He considered the experiment with the U.S. Camel Corps a success. The soldiers on the trip however, did not: the camels stunk, they were mean, and they scared the horses and mules. It is speculated though that if it hadn’t been for the Civil War, camels would have played a larger role in the U.S. Army.

Beale’s Road, which was a main thoroughfare for wagons heading west in the late 1800s, continues to carry traffic today albeit in a much different form. The road was so well chosen that Route 66 followed it through most of Arizona and New Mexico. Later when the “Mother Road” was replaced by the interstate system the planners also used sections of Beale’s route for I-40. Today there are places in northern Arizona where portions of Beale’s route are still visible. I’ll fill you in on our visit to the Beale Wagon Road soon…