Hi Jolly

This afternoon, while shopping at another 'swap meet', I came across the local cemetery in Quartzsite. I had to investigate. This is what I discovered.

In 1856, the War Department approved a plan to use camels to aid in opening a wagon road from Fort Defiance to California. Along with the purchase of the camels came a caretaker whose arabic name was Haiji Ali. The soldiers started calling him "Hi Jolly". The camels proved their worth, nevertheless the War Department abandoned the experiment and the camels were left on the Arizona desert to shift for themselves. They roamed the area for several years.

Hi Jolly settled in the Quartzsite area, where he tried his hand at mining, scouting and delivering "Jackass Mail". He also sold water to travelers. The cemetery is named for him.

This is what a desert cemetery looks like. Most of the graves have a cement slab over them. I can only assume the reason for this is that the rock hard ground prevents burial deep in the ground. The cement would stop the erosion of the area since grass will not grow in this arid climate.




Just an interesting bit of history of Quartzsite, Arizona.