PREVIOUS PAGE, SHEET MUSIC: COURTESY OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, USDA NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY; CAMPFIRE: 3DAKHMED/SHUTTERSTOCKatandIwerebornamonthapartin1946.Our
momsweregirlfriendsandPatgrewupacross
thealleyfromme.Itwasaquickhopfrommy
frontdoortoherbackdoortowalktoschool
togetherorforadayofplaying.Weoftenmet
upwithfriendsatthespotwecalled“thefield.”
Thefieldwasanundevelopedareaofabout 3 acres.
Itwasanythingourimaginationswantedittobe.At
variouspoints,itwasabaseballdiamond,aracetrack,
Tarzan’sjungleandtheWildWest.
WhenPatandIwere10,thefieldalsowasthescene
ofanunforgettableexperienceforus—oneinwhich
SmokeyBearwouldhavealastingimpactonourlives.
Therewasalittlewhitehousewithashed,shadedby
ahugeoaktree,nexttothelot.Besideitwastheschool
andthenthefiredepartment.
Oneverydryautumnday,PatandIrodetothefield
toplay.We’dalwaysbeencurioustoexplorethelittle
weatheredshedandthistime,withnoonearound,we
spottedourchance.Onaledgeinside,wespiedapack
ofmatchesthatseemedtobebeggingtobelit.Irecall
lightingoneofthem—justone—anddroppingitintoa
thickpileofleaves.
Pat’seyesbulged.Quickasajackrabbit,shehopped
onherbikeandwasgonebeforethepilestartedtoburn.
Istayeduntiltheflamesreachedtheoaktree’slowerlimbs,
thenItookoff,too.Pathadgonehomebytheclosest
route,thestreet,whileIbacktrackedalongapaththatled
tomyhouse.Myfamilywasjustsittingdowntosupper.
Iflewinthebackdoor,yelling,“THEFIELD’SONFIRE!”
Weheardthefirehousesirencallingthevolunteer
firefighters.Thenourphonerang.ItwasPat’smom,
whosaidherdaughterhadjustconfessed.
Thetreeburnedbutlived.Thefiremensoakedthelittle
houseandshed,savingthem,too.
PatandIwerebroughtintoacourtroom,whereajudge
gaveusasternlectureaboutstayingoutoftrouble.Each
ofusgotahugeposterofSmokeyBearandweweretold
toreadSmokey’smottoaloudtoourparentseverynight.
Tothisday,PatandIhaveneverforgottenthatONLYWE
CANPREVENTFORESTFIRES.
FIELD NOTES
Living Legend:
The Real Smokey
Where there’s fire, there’s Smokey.
SUZANNE BROEDLING SALAS • ELKINS PARK, PA
P
The character of Smokey Bear was
created as part of a national ad
campaign in 1944. But it took a real
bear, a cub who survived a blaze in
New Mexico’s Capitan Mountains in
the spring of 1950, to put a cute face
on the message of preventing forest
fires—and melt hearts everywhere.
The cub’s story began with his rescue
from a 17,000-acre wildfire in the
Lincoln National Forest. Firefighters
found him clinging to a charred tree
and named him Hot Foot Teddy
because his paws were badly burned.
The state’s first “flying game warden,”
Raymond Bell, flew the cub to Santa
Fe for treatment. It occurred to Bell
that the black bear cub, renamed
Smokey, could be a powerful living
symbol of conservation and survival.
Smokey became a media darling, but
as he got better, he quickly outgrew
his space at Bell’s family home. At last,
the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.,
agreed to take him.
Smokey made the 1,800-mile trip in
late June 1950 in a new Piper Pacer
donated by aircraft maker William
Piper Sr. Smokey remained at the zoo
as one of its most popular attractions
until he died in 1976. He is buried
at Smokey Bear Historical Park in
New Mexico.