Historical Marker

Capitán (2)

In 1950, a little bear cub, his feet badly burned, was rescued from a forest fire near here. The cub was nursed back to health and flown to Washington, D.C. to become the living symbol of "Smokey Bear”" in the U.S. Forest Service’s fire prevention program. Many incidents in the Lincoln County War, 1876-79, occurred in the area around Capitán. The promoters Charles B. Eddy and John A. Eddy platted the townsite in 1900, after building a spur of the El Paso & Northeastern Railroad from Carrizozo in order to open the Salado coal fields. The mines were abandoned in 1901.