By Andrea Vasquez
The Coronado Historic Site, in partnership with Texas Camel Corps, hosted an educational field trip for students from Bernalillo Elementary School before an announced “Camels at Coronado” event that took place on April 12.
The April 11 excursion gave children the opportunity to not only learn about the historic importance of camels in the state but to interact with these mammals simultaneously.
“It was fun taking them out and getting them to see this,” said Alesa Darley, a 5th-grade teacher at Bernalillo Elementary School.
“So just a little history for them. To be able to get them out of class and getting them to see just the richness of what this part of the state has to offer,” she added about the importance of these types of opportunities.
The staff and assigned teachers made sure kids had a fun time while prioritizing safety and politeness.
The field trip centered on educating participants about the U.S. Army’s camel experiment in the Southwest during the mid-1800s, highlighting the use of camels in expeditions such as the Echols and Beale missions, and explaining the routes they traveled through, including Albuquerque, Las Cruces and El Morro.
The school trip also allowed students to interact with Texas Camel Corps owner Doug Baum and his son through an engaging, specially tailored historical talk held in an outdoor classroom surrounded by the site’s breathtaking scenery.
“I believe the story is important here in the Southwest, where there’s a large Native population. When I show up at a historic site dressed in the blue uniform of an 1850s U.S. Army soldier, I understand it can bring up deep, long-held feelings—especially among Native communities,” explained Baum.
“But the camels disarm that tension. Everyone smiles when they see a camel. And through them, I get to tell a small, often-forgotten, but surprisingly positive piece of history,” he added.
Through live, interactive, and even musical encounters, Baum connected history and science by teaching students about camels’ historical significance and their biological functions through demonstrations and storytelling –offering the chance to “form a real connection”.
“Guys, we kind of went off into the weeds, into the bushes, talking science. All right, I’m here to teach history, but it’s important to me that you understand how a camel works and why they were so important to the soldiers in the 1850s, how it worked,” Baum explained to the students during one of the sessions.
Baum’s approach is a tad bit different. He emphasizes the use of camels to spark curiosity and teach history. He believes in hands-on experience for children to get a better grasp of historical information that could otherwise be easily forgotten.
“When the lecture part is over and they get to go over and pet a camel and take a selfie with a camel, they’re probably more likely to remember this story and go home and tell this story to their family, which is ultimately the goal that keeps history alive…when we repeat the stories,” Baum said.
For nearly 30 years, Baum has been committed to the care of animals and their historical context. Having worked as a zookeeper, Baum developed a special interest in camels, and after being gifted a book about the U.S. Army’s use of camels in the Southwest during the 1850s, he excitingly explains that “that was the spark” he was looking for.
“While most people in the camel world were offering rides and making a business out of it, I had a different idea: I wanted to travel with camels and share their history,” he explains.
Although logistics can be tricky, stating that everything they need is custom-made, and trailers “have to be taller, wider, longer” as well as finding a place with tall enough fences to house his camels, he has made plenty of friends along the way that help with housing all of his humpy friends.
He also mentioned that teaching history nowadays is a tough job because of short attention spans.
“I mean attention spans in history, like 10 minutes ago, forget 100 years ago, forget 200 years ago. So at a point in my life, my career as a zookeeper and my love of history intersected, and I saw the reactions that kids had when they would meet camels,” he added about these animals’ magnetism and how history becomes real.
Each session concluded with the opportunity to get up close and personal with the three male camels brought for the Friday presentation.
Other activities included tinsmith and leatherworking demonstrations, Kiva tours and storytelling sessions from the site’s rich history.
Both events centered on providing participants with a broader understanding of this small fraction of history that opens up the community’s outlook on history.
Funding and support were possible thanks to the sponsorship of the Town of Bernalillo Lodger’s Tax and organized by the Friends of Coronado and Jemez Historic Sites and the NM Department of Cultural Affairs.
Future events from the Coronado and Jemez Historic sites include a pottery class at Kuaua in May and more here.
To learn more about the Coronado Historic Site and the ancient Kuaua Pueblo in Bernalillo, visit nmhistoricsites.org/coronado.