On This Day

Smokey the Bear

Originally, Smokey Bear was a character in a 1944 advertising campaign to raise awareness of our national forests and the valuable resource they provide, educating generations of Americans about their role in preventing wildfires.

The story of how a cartoon-character bear turning into real life began on May 4, 1950 when a carelessly discarded cigarette started the Los Tablos blaze in Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. A cub bear was caught in the forest fire. He took refuge in a tree that became completely charred, escaping with his life but also badly burned paws and hind legs. The crew removed the cub from the tree, and a rancher among the crew agreed to take him home. A New Mexico Department of Game and Fish ranger heard about the cub when he returned to the fire camp and helped get the cub on a plane to Santa Fe, where his burns were treated and bandaged.

The state game warden wrote to the chief of the Forest Service, offering to present the cub to the agency as long as the cub would be dedicated to a conservation and wildfire prevention publicity program. The cub was sent to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., becoming the living symbol of Smokey Bear.

Smokey received numerous gifts of honey and so many letters he had to have his own zip code. He remained at the zoo until his death in 1976. He was 26 years old. He was returned to his home to be buried at the Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan, New Mexico, where he continues to be a wildfire prevention legend.

Every year, Smokey Bear Days is held in Capitan, on the first Friday and Saturday in May.