Now that Mount Evans likely will be renamed, it’s time for Colorado to turn toward the next one: Byers Peak
U.S. Board on Geographic Names
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Colorado’s geographic renaming board begins process of scrubbing Native American slur from 28 sites
The Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board on Sunday began the process of scrubbing the offensive slur “squaw” from 28 of the state’s peaks, valleys, passes and creeks. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in November created a committee to strip the offensive name from federal maps. The Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force in February identified […]
Posted inCulture, News, Outdoors
Colorado eyes changing mountain name tied to Sand Creek massacre at request of Cheyenne, Arapaho tribes
One of Colorado’s most popular mountains is a step closer to being renamed in honor of the state’s Indigenous people. Clear Creek County commissioners voted Tuesday to recommend changing Mount Evans to Mount Blue Sky at the request of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. The Arapaho were known as the Blue Sky People, and the […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Geographic naming board agrees to scrape offensive name from Chaffee County gulch
The Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board on Thursday agreed that Chaffee County’s offensively named Chinaman Gulch should be changed to Yan Sing Gulch, which means resilience in Chinese. “As in resilience in the face of adversity,” said William Wei, a member of the board. The board will send its recommendation to Gov. Jared Polis, who […]
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Interior secretary orders removal of racist terms, aims to change place names
By Susan Montoya Bran, The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Friday formally declared “squaw” a derogatory term and said she is taking steps to remove it from federal government use and to replace other derogatory place names. Haaland is ordering a federal panel tasked with naming geographic places to […]
Posted inEquity, News, Outdoors, Outsider
Colorado’s new board to rename controversial landmarks has its first recommendation: Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain
The Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board on Thursday made its first recommendation: changing the name of Squaw Mountain in Clear Creek County to Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain. After a year of plodding procedural meetings, the board unanimously approved renaming the peak — referred to in debate as “S-Mountain” — after the influential Cheyenne translator known as Owl […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider, Politics and Government
George Gore’s bloody legacy could soon be erased from Colorado’s mountains, replaced with a nod to the Utes
Few people have good things to say about George Gore. But the Irish aristocrat who left a bloody trail of thousands of animals shot for sport and left to rot across the West during a three-year campaign left his mark in Colorado, with his name adorning one of Colorado’s most pristine mountain ranges as well […]
Posted inCulture, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Shifting cultural winds amplify calls to rename Colorado’s peaks, valleys and creeks
The statues are falling. The old guard is rapidly fading. And the names, they are a-changin’. As centuries of embedded discrimination erupt in sea-to-plain calls for change, an atlas of geographic locations has appeared in the crosshairs. In Colorado, a host of peaks, valleys, creeks and mesas are poised for renaming as Gov. Jared Polis […]
Posted inColoradans, Culture, Environment, Outdoors
It took an act of Congress to get two Colorado peaks named for renowned alpinist couple who died while climbing in Tibet
Deep in the rugged Wilson Range of southwestern Colorado’s San Juan Mountains sit two mountains linked by a toothy ridgeline. The taller one, at 13,498 feet, is steep, formidable and remote, with a striking couloir gashed across its east face. The shorter one, which rises to 13,123, is symmetrical, picturesque, with easier scrambles to its […]