According to one legend and probably the most popular, President Theodore Roosevelt spared a bear while on a hunting trip in  November 1902.  The 26th President was in Mississippi to to help settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Lousiana and while on the trip went bear hunting and had no luck. Others in the party found a bear that was cornered near a water hole, and had killed one of the group's hunting dog.  As a token it was eluded to that President Roosevelt should take his prize shot.  Roosevelt refused to kill the animal, calling it "unsportmanlike." and instead let the bear go. 

  An editorial cartoonist (Drew Berryman) for the Washington Post immortalized the incident in a cartoon. He pictured Roosevelt with his gun beside him with the butt resting on the ground and his back to a bear cub, gesturing his refusal to take the trophy shot.

  The event sparked the imagination of Morris Michtom and his wife, the owners of a small novelty store in Brooklyn, New York.  Michtom's wife stitched several plush bear toys for sale in the family store.  They sold quickly, so Michtom decided to send Roosevelt a bear and ask his permission to use the president's name on the bears.  Roosevelt agreed and Michtom, along with a whoesaling company called Butler Brothers, began to mass-produce the toy bears.  Thus creating a new piece of American heritage.