The Village of Capitan, New Mexico has a unique story. It is
the birthplace and burial site of the world's most
well-known bear. Smokey's story is factual although it might
appear to be fictitious. On May 4, 1950, a carelessly
discarded cigarette started the Los Tablos blaze in the
Lincoln National Forest. On May 6, a second fire, known as
the Capitan Gap fire started in the same general area.
Together these fires destroyed 17,000 acres of forest and
grasslands. The monetary loss to private property was great
but the loss to the environment was even greater.
On May 8, a 70 mile per hour wind made it impossible to
control the blaze. It was on this day that nineteen men were
trapped in a rock slide while the raging holocaust,
incredibly, spared them. They were rescued without any
fatalities, but later expressed the opinion that they knew
"just how a slice of toast feels."
On May 9, a fire crew brought a badly singed bear cub into the
fire camp. They had found the frightened cub clinging
tenaciously to the side of a burnt pine tree. Badly burned
about the buttocks and feet, he was given the name
"Hotfoot", a description soon to be changed to Smokey Bear.
His burns were tended to overnight at the nearby Flatley
Ranch, then flown by Game Warden Ray Bell to the veterinary
hospital in Santa Fe. Bell later kept Smokey in his home,
where, it is said, he was a "mite domineering" with the
other family pets and somewhat of a ham.
In 1944, prior to the discovery of Smokey Bear, the Forest
Service and the Advertising Council originated and
authorized the use of a poster by artist Albert Staehle,
depicting Smokey Bear.
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A later depiction by Rudolph Wendelin is still used in fire
prevention campaigns. The popularity of the campaign grew so
great, after the inclusion of Smokey, that in 1952 Congress
passed a bill into law governing the commercialization of
the name and image of Smokey Bear. Due to the vast amount of
mail he was receiving, Smokey was given his own zip code.
Upon Smokey's recovery in Santa Fe, the Forest Service had
Smokey flown to Washington D.C. It is rumored that on this
flight, an airport refused the pilot's request to land
because a bear was aboard the plane!
In July of 1950, the U.S. Senator Chaves of New Mexico,
presented Smokey to the school children of America. Smokey
was now in his permanent home at the National Zoo where
millions visited and marveled at his story.
As a result of Smokey's life, the Village of Capitan, the
state of New Mexico, the nation and possibly the entire
world have been altered to some degree. A study was made of
school children in the United States and foreign countries
using familiar slogans. Given the motto "Only You", more
children were able to complete, "Can Prevent Forest Fires",
than with any other motto.
In 1956, a Smokey Bear Club, Inc. was formed in Capitan to
further conservation efforts. The sum of $2,300 was raised
and with donated materials and labor, a log cabin museum was
constructed. The museum plans were drawn by a ranger's wife,
Dorothy Guck. The conservation efforts of the Village were
recognized in 1958 when President Dwight Eisenhower
presented Capitan with the first "Smokey Oscar" for its
efforts. The log cabin museum opened to the public in 1960
with free admission to all.
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New Mexico adopted the black bear as the state animal in
1962, and, on its golden anniversary in 1962, a female bear
companion named Goldie from Magdalena, New Mexico was sent
to the Washington Zoo. No cubs were ever born to Smokey and
his mate.
New Mexico adopted the black bear as the state animal in 1962,
and, on its golden anniversary in 1962, a female bear
companion named Goldie from Magdalena, New Mexico was sent
to the Washington Zoo. No cubs were ever born to Smokey and
his mate.
Upon his death in 1976, at the urging of his many friends,
Smokey's body was returned to his beautiful and beloved
Capitan Mountains. He now rests in peace, buried in a small
park which bears his name; in the heart of the Village of
Capitan and in the shadow of the mountains where it all
began. In 1984, Rudolph Wendelin designed a 20 cent postage
stamp depicting a bear cub clinging to a burnt tree with the
famous Smokey Bear emblem as a background. This was the
first and only time the U.S. Postal Service has issued a
postage stamp honoring an individual animal. Capitan was
chosen for the first day sale of this commemorative stamp
fifty years after the inception of Wendelin's poster.
Smokey Bear, the Lincoln National Forest, the beautiful and
rugged Capitan Mountains, are all part of the saga of
dedicated and caring people who were brought together by a
miracle of nature... all a part of the history of Capitan.
Thanks to Frank E. Miller and Dorothy Guck for providing
information for this epic story. Photos courtesy of the
Smokey Bear Museum.
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