Further details on the story: In November 1902 TR went to Mississippi to help settle a boundary dispute between that state and Louisiana. He was taken on a bear hunt, but had no luck. In desperation, his hosts cornered a cub & tied it to a tree for him to shoot. He thought that unsporting, and refused. (The cub was injured, and his hosts put it out of its misery.) There were reporters on the hunt, and the Washington Post printed a cartoon, which was widely circulated, with the punning caption "Drawing the Line in Mississippi". Inspired by it, a storekeeper made up some stuffed bears, and obtained the president's permission to name them after him. They were a success. Coincidentally, a German toy manufacturer had tooled up to make bears, and an enterprising American, seeing them at a fair, put in a large order. The fad become worldwide, and for a long time Germany was the center of the industry.