Happy 100th Birthday Winnie!

This August 24th the bear cub that was the inspiration for the A.A. Milne Winnie the Pooh stories would be 100 years old.

An orphaned  female black bear cub was purchased in White River from George Cooke for $20 by Lieutenant Harry Colebourn while traveling to their ultimate destination of Salisbury Plains in England.  The black bear was named Winnie after Colebourn's hometown of Winnipeg.

When Colebourn, now a Captain, was called into active duty in France, he took Winnie to the London Zoo so she'd have a place to stay until he returned.  

Winnie was a very tame bear and became a huge favorite of the guests who visited the London Zoo.  Two of her fan were -- you guessed it -- Christopher Robin Milne and his father Alan Alexander Milne.