By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
A reporter for The Aroostook Republican was recently at the Connor School asking students from first to sixth grade how they thought Smokey the Bear got his name.
Smokey the bear — an American black bear cub — found himself in the Captain Gap Fire in 1950. The wildfire burned 17,000 acres in the Lincoln National Forest of New Mexico. The little bear climbed a tree to escape the fire but ended up with a burned hind leg and paw before officials could rescue him.
