Smokey the Bear

On our way back from our honeymoon in Ruidoso NM, we had to stop by this beauty!

We saw it in one of the books at the hotel and made the decision to go. Anywho, So how Smokey came about. The Government during WWI or WWII, I can't remember which one for sure, wanted to make the people more aware of the fires they were starting. So they decided to make a bear into a spokesman for the forests. After 4 years of advertising this bear, they found a real life mascot to us. There was a wild fire in Capitan NM where a young bear cub was found clinging to a tree. They rescued the poor cub and doctored his burned feet. This is when they named the bear Smokey. Touching story right. They shipped the bear to Washington DC for the Zoo there and even gave him a mate named Goldie. After Smokey passed on from this life, his body was shipped back to Capitan and the grave is appropriately marked.