page_title: Fair chase
section_title: The teddy bear's connection
hierarchical_section_title: Fair chase / History / The teddy bear's connection
caption_attribution_description: This political cartoon by Clifford Berryman's depicts President Theodore Roosevelt's bear hunting trip to Mississippi. The cartoon gave the 'Teddy' Bear it's name. It was published in the Washington Post in 1902.
context_page_description: Fair chase is a term used by hunters to describe an ethical approach to hunting big game animals. North America's oldest wildlife conservation group, the Boone and Crockett Club, defines "fair chase" as requiring hunted big game animals to be wild and free-ranging. "Wild" refers to an animal that is naturally bred and lives in nature. "Free-ranging" means an animal that is not confined by artificial barriers.
  Fair chase has been the honor code of North American hunters for over a century and the principle underlying many of North American hunting laws, and is taught to new hunters in hunter certification courses.
  Fair Chase is also a registered trademark of the Boone and Crockett Club.
context_section_description: The history of the teddy bear has a close connection to fair chase. During his presidency in 1902, Roosevelt was in Mississippi to settle a border dispute. His hosts knew Roosevelt was an avid hunter and arranged for a black bear hunt for the president. In the thick brush swamps of Mississippi it was a common practice of the day to hunt bears with hounds. Out of concern for the president's safety, the guides insisted that he stay in camp until a bear was brought to bay by the hounds, and subsequently a small bear was caught and tied to a tree. When Roosevelt arrived at the scene he refused to shoot the defenseless animal.
  Being omitted from the chase was unsettling to Roosevelt, who prided himself in living the hardy life of an outdoorsman—the harder the hunt the better—and he did not earn this bear though a fair pursuit. Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman immediately drew a cartoon depicting Roosevelt refusing to shoot the restrained bear. The story made national headlines and a shopkeeper, Morris Michtom in Brooklyn, New York, had his wife sew a stuffed bear to sell in his store. He wrote Roosevelt asking permission to call the child's toy "Teddy's Bear", and he consented.
caption: Clifford Berryman's cartoon
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