In 1950 a small bear cub was rescued after a horrible forest fire near Capitan, New Mexico. He became the living symbol of Smokey, The Bear, was used to help the US Forest Service and firefighters everywhere teach the public how to prevent fires in the public forests, and parks and in their own homes and business. The living Smokey lived at the zoo in Washington, DC until his death in 1979. At that time he was buried at a small park in the little town of Capitan, NM. There is now a nice museum about Smokey and the work the Forest Service does fighting fires all over the United States. The is a large memorial to Smokey in a beautiful park-like garden next to the museum. We enjoyed our visit there very much as it brought back memories of how Sarah had named a cat she had as a teenager Smokey. Even more it reminded us of how when our dad, Robert Barnett worked for the Forest Service in Silver City, NM he would strip to a swimsuit and get into a large custom of Smokey, The Bear, and then entertain and teach small children's group. I never got to actually see my dad do this and I wish very much that I had. He was not the kind of man, and father that I or my sisters would have ever thought would do something like this. It was a remarkable thing for this man to do considering what we knew of him. He, also, took the time to teach several firearms safety classes to first time young hunters so they could get their first deer hunting licenses.
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