On May 4, 1950, a carelessly discarded cigarette started the Los Tablos blaze in the Lincoln National Forest near Capitan, NM. 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. On May 8, a 70 mph wind made it impossible to control the blaze. It was on this day that nineteen men were trapped in a rock slide where the fire burned around 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 in a badly singed bear cub. They had found the cub clinging to the side of a burnt pine tree. Badly burned about the buttocks and feet, he was given the name “Hotfoot”. His name was soon changed to Smokey Bear.
Once Smokey recovered from his burns, he was moved to the National Zoo where he served his country for 25 years. That is equal to 70 human years and at that time was the mandatory retirement age of all Federal employees.
One of the folks that took care of the younhg Smokey Bear was a child named Judy Bell. Not me, but I've always felt an afinity with Smokey! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat History,most of us always had Smokey in our minds from our first days of camping. Be Safe out There. Sam & Donna..
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Thanks for that. I did not know that Smokey was a real bear.
ReplyDeleteI still know the words to Smokey the Bear. "The" is not part of his name; the songwriter put it in to make it fit the beat. Many of us still have trouble leaving it out when referring to Smokey Bear.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY THANKSGIVING to you two! We are thankful God introduced us to you both!
ReplyDeleteGreat Story! I read it outloud to my family as we drove down the highway...
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great Thanksgiving!