did you know that Smokey the Bear was really a real bear
today I'm Colorado Martini living
so I am in the final resting place of Smokey Bear and today I'm going to tell
you his story that you've probably never heard before Smokey Bear began as an
advertising campaign character that began in 1944 the campaign was to raise
awareness for the national forest as it being a valuable resource in the United
States in May of 1950 there was a devastating fire in the Capitan
mountains of New Mexico in the aftermath a badly burned cub was found clinging to
a tree firefighters brought the six week old black cup to Ray Bell who was a game
officer at the time the small little bears hair was singed and he had
severely burnt paws the one person that knew Smokey the best when he was found
was Ray Bell and this is how he tells the story of
how Smokey was found way Bell was also a pilot and he flew the bear to the
veterinarian in Santa Fe for medical attention he put the bear in a small box
the size of a shoebox after the vet attended to his needs
he took the bear home where his wife Ruth and his daughter Judy Bell helped nurse
the little bear back to health but they found that the cub was having trouble
eating so the Bell family finally solved the problem by having him to suck on a
mixture of honey milk and baby food from their fingers
the bells cared for the little cub for two months
according to Bell the cubs name was originally hotfoot Teddy but he was
renamed smokey and became the legend that we all know as the fire prevention
program created by the u.s. Forest Service Smokey the Bear but a little
fact that a lot of people do not know that Bell tells that the state of
California actually wanted the bear as their living embodiment of the symbol of
the bear on their flag
once smokey was able to fly he was taken to the National Zoo in Washington DC he
grew up to be a 400-pound bear he lived for 26 years before his death in 1976 in
the 26 years that smokey lived at the National Zoo
he received millions of visitors and so many letters addressed to him that in
1964 the United States Postal Service gave him his own zip code which is still
in use and that zip code is 202 5 2
so this is captain where the Smokey the Bear Historical Park is it's a cute
little town
we're gonna go out into the garden and visit smokey so he's back in the back
corner on the other side of the stream it's like he's back over here so let's
go take a look it does smell like burnt wood ironically so they have a nice
garden back here with a nice pond and everything it's a beautiful resting
place for such a national symbol talking with the lady who is here
she says that the fire got started by loggers here we go here he is on a
beautiful sanctuary Smokey the Bear
no because it's shaded I'll read this you the plaque reads this is the resting
place of the first living smokey bear in 1950 when smokey was a tiny cub wildfire
burnt his forest home in the nearby Capitan mountains of the Lincoln
National Forest firefighters found the baby burnt cub clinging to a block and
tree and saved his life in June of 1950 the cob was flown to the
national capital to become the living symbol of wildlife prevention and
wildlife conservation after 25 years he was replaced by another orphan black
bear from the Lincoln National Forest very nice and he's buried somewhere in
this rocked area
just further down the path from smokey is a wonderful memorial to New Mexico's
fallen firefighters smokey even had a hot-air balloon and it used to fly in
the New Mexico balloon festival which is really famous but one day it met its
fate so back in 2004 the Smokey the Bear
balloon met its demise during the Albuquerque International
Balloon Festival and it's actually buried here right by smokey here's the
fireman Memorial and Smokey's over there in the corner so what a fitting place to
bury the balloon also a playground and a picnic area so if you wanted to come
here and is it smokey and have a nice picnic in give the kids some rest I play
in the playground it's right outside in the garden actually two buildings
there's the newer one with the exhibits that you want to go through and then
there's the Smokey Bear Museum so if you find yourself in New Mexico driving
either to Rio dosa or maybe out to Texas or maybe you're on your way to Roswell
or even going to see the Lincoln County War exhibits just down the road you must
stop to see and visit and pay your respects just
when I was a young girl smokey was a big thing and he will forever live in my
heart
we love you smokey and that's the story of Smokey Bear
the real bear make sure to check our links down in our description we have
some wonderful books about smokey bear that you can share with your children so
this has been a really hard day for us her dog that we brought with us was
really old and she fell out of the back of the car and hurt her foot really bad
and she's so old that he had to put her down
Erin's had a peg so I want to dedicate this video to my low life
make sure to check out all our videos on traveling New Mexico it is truly an
enchanted place
you