The Legend of The Red Ghost, A Camel With An Unusual Rider

There was a period of time when camels roamed the Arizona desert freely. Back in 1853, the U.S Army spent $30,000 to buy and transport camels to Arizona. The Army held onto the camels for a few years before deciding they weren't worth it and released them into the wild. After that, camels roamed free in Arizona. But in 1883, a certain camel gained quite the haunting reputation.

Arizona Law

After the U.S Army released the camels into the wild, a new law popped up. It was illegal to hunt camels. This law was created in an effort to protect the camel population. Despite the legislation, the camel population was too small to sustain itself, and by the early 20th century, wild camels were no longer present in Arizona.

The law was followed pretty closely. Considering how small the camel population was, the only people in Arizona who came in contact with the wild camels were miners exploring the canyons and mountains in the hope of making it rich. That was until The Red Ghost began to terrorize the desert.

READ MORE ABOUT OLD ARIZONA LAWS: Amusing Myths: Arizona's Outdated Laws Explained

The Tale of the Red Ghost

In 1883, a small mining camp in the Sonoran Desert came across it, a ransacked camp with nothing left but footprints. They followed the odd footprints until they could no longer do so, and that's when they spotted it. The silhouette of a camel with what looked to be a humanoid creature with little flesh and hair sitting on its back. The miners never caught up with it and went back to their camp defeated.

Not long after the miners' encounter, a woman was supposedly trampled to death while working on a sheep ranch. The only witness described the culprit as a red camel with what she could only assume was the devil on its back. 

Over the course of the next decade, the camel was spotted in a variety of locations. It was occasionally spotted among other camels. At one point, it was reported that it charged a man who was trying to capture it. Every incident had the same story: the red ghost was being ridden by something inhuman. 

After nearly a decade of terror, the camel met its fate. It was eating from a turnip patch when the farmer in charge, Mizoo Hastings, caught and killed it. Upon the Red Ghost's death, the reality was revealed. It was not the devil on his back, but a dead body that had long since decomposed. It was supposedly tied to his back using rawhide straps. Whether it was its former rider or a body connect to a criminal case was never found out. The camel had scarring from where the rope had dug deep into its skin, and unfortunately, that is likely why it was so aggressive.

Whether or not you believe in the tale of the Red Ghost, it reminds us of a very unique part of Arizona history. A time when urban legends controlled the population, and camels roamed free without a care in the world.

READ MORE URBAN LEGENDS: The Haunting Tragedy Of Slaughterhouse Canyon In Arizona