Posts From The Road: Smokey Bear Historical Park

Smokey Bear Historical Park: The Smokey Bear Historical Park on a two acre site in central Capitan features educational displays and videos, which tell the story of Smokey and fire prevention. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com

Smokey Bear: A wooden carved sculpture of Smokey Bear stands in the Smokey Bear Historical Park. The sculpture features Smokey in his familiar Ranger hat and blue jeans. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com

Fallen Firefighters: A new memorial was added to the park in May 2019. This sculpture honors Wildland Firefighters and fire support personnel from New Mexico who have fallen in the line of duty. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com

By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos

Capitan, a village in south central New Mexico is the birthplace and burial site of Smokey Bear.

In May 1950, the Capitan Gap Fire was raging in the Capitan Mountains in the Lincoln National Forest. Firefighters found a badly burned black bear cub scared and clinging to a burnt pine tree. The cub was rescued and flown to Santa Fe the following day for treatment.

After recovery, the Forest Service flew the cub to Washington, D.C. where in July 1950 New Mexico U.S. Sen. Dennis Chaves presented Smokey Bear. Smokey Bear spent the rest of his life in the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. where millions visited and learned of the Smokey Bear story and fire prevention.

Smokey Bear died in 1976 and his body was returned to the Capitan, in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico for burial.

Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country and he shares his photographs, which appear in the ‘Posts from the Road’ series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.

 

Burial Site: The marked burial site is on the site of the historical park. Smokey Bear was buried in Capitan in 1976. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com

Burial Plaque: The burial plaque tells more of the Smokey Bear story. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com

Only You: One of the signs on the grounds of the park features the popular Smokey Bear campaign ‘Remember Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires’. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com

 

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