Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan, New Mexico

Eric and I drove east in search of New Mexico History.

Our first stop is Smokey Bear

Historical Park.

This Black Bear Cub, with burns,
was found clinging to a tree after
the Capitan Gap Fire in the
Spring of 1950.

The Capitan Gap fire covered

17,000 acres & was started

by a camper.

Game Warden Ray Bell flew the badly brunt cub to Santa Fe for care.  oversaw his recovery.  Dr. Edwin Smih, a veterinarian who had never treated a bear, treated Smokey burns and released him int Ray Bell's care.  Ray, his wife, Ruth, and daughter, Judy, nursed Smokey back to health.

The National Forest Service finally had a live bear to promote their Fire Safety Program.





The Prevention of Forest Fires
Campaign, with Smokey,
started in 1944.

The National Forest Service

 had been hard at work for

 years fighting wildfires.

A scale model of a

 Fire Tower.

  In 1930, engaging the public in Wildfire Prevention started.

Photos of Fire Spotters &

Fire Fighters.

The woman in the black and white photo is Helen Dow.  She operated Colorado's Devil's Head Lookout in the 1920s.

The need for raw material to

supply the military's needs

made a nationwide campaign

fire prevention program

necessary.

Smokey Bear was given a home at the National Zoo in Washington, DC later in 1950.

The Fire Prevention Program
has worked successfully for
decades.

And, Smokey's image grew....

Besides appearances, his balloon

debuted at the Albuquerque

Balloon Fiesta in 1993.

The beloved balloon crashed into a radio tower at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in 2004.

A hands-on area for children

at the Historic Park.

Smokey Bear died on November 9, 1976, at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.  

A small bear cub clinging to

at tree decorates Smokey's

grave.

Nearby, Smokey Bear's

Balloon is buried.

Eric & I get a pic

with Smokey before

we set out in search

of more New Mexico

History.