I remember somewhere I read about them being used on the western frontier by the army." Alice recalled. "Dromedaries, the lighter breed. As I remember they were bred for racing and riding in general. I have never seen one, other than a rendering in a book."

"To think, the man tried that here, where the winters are harsh, as you say, a camel, the one with two humps, now if I remember correctly, they were bred for the cold where they come from. Of course that may well be what this Mister Armentrout brought up from Texas."

Then she laughed at herself, "Imagine a mounted troop on camels, either one, what a sight that would be! Do you think it could out run a horse?"

"Oh, I read about that. Such a shame. All those artifacts lost, not the first fire, but the second one that took it to the ground." She said of the museum that was lost. "Pa, my husband Arthur, and I we in New York, I was twenty-six at the time and have never forgotten the experience. Too crowded. The city was all but shoulder to shoulder. A myriad of languages to be heard. And the sights, well, they may well have been worth it. And then the war came."

"I did see a camel while there. They look clumsy, all long legs holding up the rather large body. Odd creature. But a sight not many out here have seen." She confessed. I do imagine a traveling circus would do quite well out here in the west."

"Reckon that'd be somethin'!  Sorta like a medicine show, only without th' snake oil...an' with all manner'a critters!"  Addy would pay a decent sum to see a whole menagerie of exotic critters right here in town!  "'Course, seems like it'd be an awful lotta trouble ta pack all that around.  On a train, I suppose?"

“They are doing that in the east. They’ve been using trans for some time now, but to bring it out here? Far to expensive.” She explained. “I have some friends back east that write, and they said they saw the circus, and that it came by train.”

She pondered over how many cars that might take, although she had no idea what the logistics might be, but then her thoughts wandered further.  "Aren't there them animals with real long necks?  Gerfs, or some such?  An' Elephants are real big...might not even fit in a train car...'less they make a hole fer them gerfs' head..."  She was on a roll!  "But then, they'd not know ta duck when they got to th' tunnels..."

 Alice thought she might correct Addy about the giraffes, but to what end. It was not a name that she would use with any regularity, if at all. “I wondered that myself. From what they said they use a lot of flat cars for that bigger animals. Some they keep in their wagons. My friends have said it was really interesting.” Then she too thought of the giraffes and the tunnels. "Their name is giraffe, but you were close."

That would be bad!!

"Ah, giraffe...knew it was somethin' like that." Grinning, Addy shrugged. "There's all manner'a strange critters, with stranger names all over th' world, an' wouldn't it be somethin' ta see them?"

“It would, something special. Would that we had spent more time at that exhibit, it was huge, five floors of exhibits, and in the basement, a live whale!’ Alice exclaimed, remembering what was advertized that she did not get to see. Arthur had a card game to attend. There seemed to always be a card game for Arthur.

Then she chuckled, pondering a moment before continuing. "Reckon there are folks in places like China an' Wales that are sittin' just like us, talkin' 'bout seein' a grizzly or buffalo or armadillo..." It made sense that others would think that where they lived were odd, even if to them it was just how things were. "Funny ta think that there's folks wishin' they could visit here."

“Yes, and folks keep coming to this country, by the ship load. Part of the problem with New York. It’s the port of entry for most emigrants, but there are others, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. But most entered through New York City, which is known as the "Golden Door." And most immigrants arriving in New York entered at the Castle Garden depot near the tip of Manhattan Island. I like the name “Golden Door,” for that’s what it represents, for those folks. Then they fan out from there, or stay put in the city.” She laughed.

“Goodness, I just seem to be a storehouse of odd information. But I tend to read a lot whenever books and such are available to me.” She concluded.

Posted April 8, 2021

"Ah, heck I don't mind...it's interestin', an' a person'd be a fool not ta want ta learn somethin'." She shook her head and laughed. "Her that pontificatin' comin' from me, who can't hardly read nor write...not ta say I don't got other sort'a learnin'...an' now I'm takin' on Weedy all formal-like, I reckon I should get more book learnin'."

“Knowledge is a powerful thing. Some of us had the good fortune to be born and raised where schools are plentiful. But the things that you know are far more valuable than having seen a giraffe, or lived in places like New York.” Alice acknowledged. “Out here reading sign is more important than reading a book, for now anyway, and for the foreseeable future.”

She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to help the boy with things like the 'Three R's', but she had plenty of knowledge to impart about history, horses, stages, wagons, and bear-hunting to make up for it!

“Addy, if you want, when you’ve time, I’d be willing to help you with reading and writing. Honestly I would.” She offered. “And we could have coffee, and just talk as well. And, tho I do know a bit about reading sign, you could teach me as well. There's a whole lot I don't know, and, I think it would be such fun.”