Summary: When considering the nineteenth-century history of the United States, it is rare to mention the influence of the Ottoman Empire and its subjects on the emerging centralized state. However, there were indeed many connections between the two empires, one of them being the short-lived U.S. Camel Corps and its lead camel driver Hac0131 Ali, known in the folk traditions of the Southwest as "Hi Jolly". While the story of Hi Jolly may seem to be an entertaining side note to the history of nineteenth-century westward expansion, it is also emblematic of the way in which empires were borrowing technologies and techniques from each other to further penetrate their various frontiers and control newly acquired territories.
