Re Cowboy on a camel: There was once a US Camel Corps. It was a test unit, they decided camels weren't suited to conditions in the American Southwest. The CO, Major Henry C. Wayne, is honored as the first Army Operational tester, in the
Operational Test Command Hall of Fame. I kid you not, I've seen the plaque. The second was Lt. Benjamin D. Foulois who tested the aeroplane in 1910.