The joke goes: How do you sneak up on a unique camel? Answer: you “neek” up on him. How do you sneak up on a tame camel? Answer: “tame” way! Aside from the talking office camel on commercials proclaiming “Hump Day”, not too many people have pet camels. Humphrey, the one hump camel, was a resident of upper White River. Minnewa Bell (who was married for a short time to Elliot Roosevelt, FDR’s son), sold the Bar Bell Ranch to Tom Milliken Moore in 1970. Tom also owned the Milliken Publishing Co. of St. Louis, Missouri.
Humphrey the camel was a Rio Blanco County resident for many years, with several Meeker folks recalling their interactions with the cantankerous critter. | HT FILE PHOTO
According to an old Meeker Herald article, Humphrey came to Rio Blanco County in 1979 from the Salt Lake City Zoo, which ran out of funds to support him. Humphrey would winter at the Circle Bar and spend a leisurely summer at the Bar Bell. Kip Gates was ranch manager for Tom. There is picture of Ty Gates (age 2) riding Humphrey. Yep! That’s RBC Commissioner Gates up there on a dromedary. Terri Reed says Humphrey liked carrots. Lex Collins shared an adventure when was about 7 or 8, riding on the ranch. His horse was used to seeing the camel, but Lex was scared. The camel chased his horse into the barbed wire fence and ripped the chaps Lex was wearing at the time. He still has the chaps to prove it. Steve Wix has a similar story detailing a cantankerous camel confrontation. Tom also had six or seven llamas on the ranch. Sandy Bradfield was working as a registered nurse at the old hospital on Third Street when a Middle-Eastern lady came in with a broken arm. The lady had been visiting our area and heard about our famous camel. She was granted a ride on Humphrey and promptly fell off and injured herself.
Tom Moore sold the ranches (and presumably, Humphrey) in 1987 to Bricklin Industries. This company was owned by Malcolm N. Bricklin, who was a big wheeler and dealer in the automotive industry. He first imported Subarus to America and later imported the Yugo hatchback from Yugoslavia from 1985 to 1992. The New York Times likened him to an automotive version of P.T. Barnum. According to one bio on Bricklin, at the peak of his success, Malcom owned a desert ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona; and another 5,000 acres at his Colorado ranch, at which he had a helipad, private swimming pool on the river, indoor shooting range and a pet camel. Not bad for a little summer getaway spot.
Rhonda Hilkey, who helped with my land research, told me that her mother did office work on the Bricklin Ranch. One of the ranch shops had a Yugo car mounted on the roof. Mike at the Meeker Regional Library remembered seeing about 30 Yugos running around Meeker at one time. Bricklin ran into financial troubles in 1990 and Diane K. Bricklin sold the ranch to Henry R. Kravis under the name KRH Colorado in 1991. At some point, Humphrey was sold. Dick and Renee Watt owned Humphrey. Apparently, Humphrey had mellowed in his attitude toward strangers. He was no longer spitting. In 1993 Humphrey was living at the Watt’s Ranch south of Meeker. Later, the Watts moved Humphrey to Palisade, Colorado, where he died. I wonder if it was on a Wednesday (hump day)?
By ED PECK – Special to the Herald times