The living symbol of Smokey Bear was an American black bear who , in the spring of 1950 , was caught in the Capitan Gap fire , a wildfire that burned 17000 a in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico . The cub was in the Lincoln National Forest . The living symbol of Smokey Bear was an American black bear cub who in the spring of 1950 was caught in the Capitan Gap fire , a wildfire that burned 17000 a in the Lincoln National Forest , in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico .