{{Short description|Burial monument in Quartzsite, Arizona, U.S.}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP |name = Hi Jolly Monument |nrhp_type = |image = HadjiAliMonument20080707.JPG |caption = The monument in 2008. The mention of "Syria" on the grave refers to the region of Ottoman Syria. |location = 245 Kofa Ave., Quartzsite, Arizona |coordinates = {{coord|33|39|52.4|N|114|14|10.8|W|display=inline,title}} |locmapin = Arizona#USA |area = {{cvt|0.1|acre|ha}} |built = 1935 |architect = |architecture = |added = February 28, 2011 |refnum = 11000054<ref name="nris" /> }}
The '''Hi Jolly Monument''' is a grave site in the Hi Jolly Cemetery located at Quartzsite, Arizona, United States, marking the grave of Hi Jolly, a Syrian-born camel driver brought to the United States in 1856 to drive camels for the US Cavalry.<ref name="quart" /> The site is located halfway between Phoenix, Arizona, and Los Angeles, California.<ref name="atlas" /> It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
==Hi Jolly== {{main|Hi Jolly}} Hi Jolly was born in Syria in 1828 as Philip Tedro, an Ottoman subject of Syrian and Greek parentage.<ref name="philiptedro" /> Upon converting to Islam and making a pilgrimage to Mecca, he became known as Hadji Ali (later Americanized to Hi Jolly).{{r|quart}} He migrated to the United States in 1856 after being recruited in Smyrna, Turkey by the US Army as a camel driver/tender.<ref name="aram" /> At the time, the United States Secretary of War Jefferson Davis wanted to try using camel transport to move people and freight over western deserts.<ref name="road" />
Under the command of Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, the United States Camel Corps was initially a success.<ref name="svc" /> In June 1857, Hi Jolly was lead camel driver for a round trip between Texas and California.<ref name="off" /> By 1859, however, only Hi Jolly and "Greek George" remained of the ten camel drivers originally hired.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Mythical Fort Tejon "Camel Corps" |url=http://www.forttejon.org/camel.html |access-date=2006-12-21 |first=George |last=Stammerjohn |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022125742/http://www.forttejon.org/camel.html |archive-date=October 22, 2018}}</ref> After the camel experiment ended, Hi Jolly remained in the southwest, where he became a prospector, desert guide, mail courier, and freight hauler.{{r|quart}}
==Death and monument== [[File:Hi Jolly Monument with Flags.jpg|thumb|The Hi Jolly Monument in July 2025, with flags of the United States and Arizona, and the POW/MIA flag{{emdash}}as seen from behind.]] Hi Jolly died in December 1902 in Quartzsite, Arizona and was buried there, the first grave in what became Hi Jolly Cemetery.{{r|quart|hmdb}} Due to his popularity with the local citizens, they spent weeks building a pyramid monument over his grave made from multi-colored petrified wood and quartz. The cairn was dedicated on January 4, 1903.{{r|road}}
In 1934, the Arizona Highway Department added a plaque with a synopsis of Hi Jolly's life and the metal silhouette of a camel.{{r|clio}} They also added a vault at the monument's base, in which they placed some memorabilia from Hi Jolly's life and the ashes of a camel named "Old Topsy", the last camel survivor of the experiment.{{r|army}}<ref name="ArcSW">{{Cite web |url=https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GreatBend.pdf |title=The Great Bend of the Gila: A Nationally Significant Cultural Landscape |publisher=Archaeology Southwest |quote=...a vault was placed in the monument’s base. It allegedly contains some personal letters, his government contracts, and a few coins that was all the money Tedro had to his name. It also contains the ashes of 80-year-old Topsy, the last camel from the original herd that had died that same year at Los Angeles’ Garfield Zoo. |date=2015 |access-date=February 20, 2022 |archive-date=February 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221233918/https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GreatBend.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
The plaque was dedicated in 1935 by Arizona governor Benjamin Moeur.{{r|clio}} The monument was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hi Jolly Monument now on National Register of Historic Places |url=https://www.parkerpioneer.net/news/article_b1142279-9fd2-54fb-b647-da0d99611c5b.html |publisher=Parker Pioneer |access-date=February 21, 2022 |date=December 20, 2011 |archive-date=February 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221051318/https://www.parkerpioneer.net/news/article_b1142279-9fd2-54fb-b647-da0d99611c5b.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The pyramid measures {{convert|9|feet}} at the base on each side and is {{convert|8|ft|m}} tall. The camel silhouette on the apex is made of steel, {{convert|2|ft|m}} tall, and faces west. It is located in the older "pioneer section" of the cemetery, marking the first of 124 graves in the section. The cemetery is in a natural desert setting with hard packed dirt, one block off the main street (U.S. Route 95) in Quartzsite.{{r|hpif}}
The plaque on the monument reads: {{poemquote|{{center| THE LAST CAMP OF HI JOLLY BORN SOMEWHERE IN SYRIA ABOUT 1828 DIED AT QUARTZSITE DECEMBER 16, 1902 CAME TO THIS COUNTRY FEBRUARY 10, 1856 CAMELDRIVER – PACKER SCOUT – OVER THIRTY YEARS A FAITHFUL AID TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT ARIZONA HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT 1935 }}}}
==References== <references>
<ref name="nris">{{Cite web |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/11000054 |title=Hi Jolly Monument |publisher=National Park Service |date=February 28, 2011 |access-date=February 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901065147/https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/11000054 |archive-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref> <ref name="philiptedro">{{Cite web |url=http://helleniccomserve.com/philiptedro.html |title=Philip Tedro: A Greek Legend of the American West |website=helleniccomserve.com |access-date=2022-01-15 |archive-date=2006-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209145947/http://helleniccomserve.com/philiptedro.html |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="quart">{{Cite web |title=Hi Jolly Monument |url=https://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/index.php/2013-01-08-06-33-10/hi-jolly-cemetary-2 |access-date=2022-01-15 |website=www.ci.quartzsite.az.us |archive-date=2022-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115131950/https://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/index.php/2013-01-08-06-33-10/hi-jolly-cemetary-2 |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="atlas">{{Cite web |title=Hi Jolly Monument |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hi-jolly-monument |access-date=2022-01-15 |website=Atlas Obscura |archive-date=2022-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115132003/https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hi-jolly-monument |url-status=live }}{{unreliable source|date=January 2022}}</ref> <ref name="aram">{{Cite web |title=Hi Jolly – Uncle Sam's Camel Captain |url=https://www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/February-2021/Hi-Jolly-Uncle-Sam-s-Camel-Captain |access-date=2022-01-15 |website=www.aramcoworld.com |archive-date=2022-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115131950/https://www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/February-2021/Hi-Jolly-Uncle-Sam-s-Camel-Captain |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="road">{{Cite web |title=Hi Jolly's Tomb, Quartzsite, Arizona |url=https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11284 |access-date=2022-01-15 |website=RoadsideAmerica.com |language=en |archive-date=2022-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115131951/https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11284 |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="off">{{Cite web |title=Hi Jolly |url=https://azoffroad.net/hi-jolly |access-date=2022-01-15 |website=AZOFFROAD.NET |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115131951/https://azoffroad.net/hi-jolly |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="svc">{{Cite web |title=SCVHistory.com LW2161a {{!}} U.S. Camel Corps {{!}} Hi Jolly's Tomb |url=http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/lw2161a.htm |access-date=2022-01-15 |website=www.scvhistory.com |archive-date=2022-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115131958/https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/lw2161a.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="hmdb">{{Cite web |title=The Last Camp of Hi Jolly Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=32201 |access-date=2022-01-15 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en |archive-date=2022-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115131950/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=32201 |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="clio">{{Cite web |title=Hi Jolly Monument |url=https://theclio.com/entry/320 |access-date=2022-01-15 |website=Clio |language=en |archive-date=2022-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116012309/https://theclio.com/entry/320 |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="army">{{cite journal |date=2013 |journal=Army History|volume= 86 |publisher=U.S. Army Center of Military History |pages=36–37 |oclc=21069441 |url=https://history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH86(W).pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306063741/http://www.history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH86(W).pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 6, 2013|title=''The Last Camel Charge: The Untold Story of America's Desert Military Experiment'' By Forrest Bryant Johnson Berkley Caliber, 2012|department=[Review]|first1= Roger D.|last1= Cunningham|access-date=2022-01-15 }}</ref> <ref name=hpif>{{cite web |url=https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital/collection/p17220coll11/id/564/rec/1 |title=Historic Property Information Form for Hi Jolly Cemetery |access-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-date=January 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116012318/https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital/collection/p17220coll11/id/564/rec/1 |url-status=live }}</ref>
</references>
==External links== {{commonscat-inline}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1935 Category:Tombs in the United States Category:Camels in art Category:Burial monuments and structures in Arizona Category:National Register of Historic Places in La Paz County, Arizona Category:Pyramids in the United States Category:1935 establishments in Arizona Category:Syrian-American history Category:Asian-American culture in Arizona Category:Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona