After I get my knee fixed and can walk again, I'd like to spend some time in Capitan, located in the heart of Lincoln County, right up there in the Lincoln National Forest at 6530 ft. There's a nice little side road we always stop on to get out and stretch and to give the dogs a little R & R. It smells like pines and there is the tantalizing sound of trickling water nearby.
Capitan is the home town of Smokey Bear (also known as Smokey the Bear from a song that was written about him), a little cub who was found in a tree after a forest fire. After being treated for his burns, he became the national symbol of forest fire awareness, spending his life in the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. When he died at age 26, his remains were returned to Capitan, where he was buried in what is now Smokey Bear Historical Park.
You can find out more about the village of Capitan at its website, and at its Chamber of Commerce website. For a further glimpse of life among the pines, see Taste of Capitan and Capitan Farmer's Market.
1 comment:
We went to Capitan and other places in that area in the 1970s when our children were very young. (I remember one picture we took "crying" over Smokey the Bears grave...) Your comments and pictures brought back a lot of good memories. Thanks!
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