Wild Wild Life
éa Obreht’s second novel, , an epic tale of love and loss that offers an alternative view of the foundations of the American West, is built around a little-known chapter in history. Camels, purchased in the Middle East and Mediterranean and tied down in boats to cross the ocean, were used in place of mules or horses to pack materials to army forts in San Antonio and other locations across the expanding U.S. territories. In 1857, under the direction of Mexican-American War veteran General Edward Beale, a group of camels,
