The "teddy bear" became popular just after the turn of the century, during Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt's administration. A little known incident that occured in West Virginia's Allegheny Mountains just east of White Sulpher Springs, near the West Virginia-Virginia border, led to the origin of the "teddy bear".
Early one morning, a young girl left the farmhouse to fetch water from the well and noticed bear tracks in her yard. Following the tracks to a nearby apple orchard, she discovered a cute little black bear cub on the lower limb of a tree. Since the mother bear was nowherein sight, she took the cub home and kept it in the house as a pet. Soon the cub outgrew the house and had to be staked outside. One day a neighbor persuaded the girl to sell him the bear, and knowing how much President Roosevelt loved "big game", he sent the little bear to him as a gift. The press quickly picked up on the newsworthy event and began referring to the White House pet as Teddy's bear. Soon after, manufacture of cuddly toy bears began and an American tradition was born; the "teddy bear".
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