The Koyukon Athabaskan people of central Alaska named North America’s tallest mountain “Denali” in the distant past. In their language, it meant “the tall one” or “the great one,” and rightly so! At 20,230 feet, it is the third tallest mountain in the world, and one of the most dangerous!
Over a hundred climbers have died trying to reach the summit since Judge James Wickersham first attempted it in 1903. By then, the mountain had taken on a new name of a much smaller figure: 5’7″ presidential hopeful, William McKinley!
In 1896, prospector, William Dickey, renamed the mountain to honor his favorite anti-inflation, pro-gold, Republican governor of Ohio. An Act of Congress officially renamed the mountain on maps and charts, and would remain so for many, many years!
But to locals, a mountain by any other name sure does stink! Few people actually called the peak McKinley, and on March 11, 1975, the Alaska State Legislature began its decades-long petition to return the rightful name to this majestic mountain. Though they were able to name the national park Denali when it opened in 1980, any attempts to rename the mountain itself were blocked by representatives of McKinley’s home state of Ohio.
So yes, it was basically forty years of Alaska fighting Ohio to rename an Alaskan mountain!
For many years, presidents sat this one out, because Ohio is such an important state during an election that you really don’t want to tick off its residents! But by August of 2015, President Barack Obama had no more elections to win and had made a promise in his past campaign to work to do right by more Native Americans!
So on August 28, six days after I flew over the mountain, and a few days before the President himself visited to talk about climate change, his Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, issued Order #3337, officially renaming the mountain Denali!
Immediately, Twitter blew up, because Twitter likes to blow up, with angry responses from the opposing party, who claimed the renaming was a blow to McKinley’s legacy as a Civil War hero and president! But, as Secretary Jewell, pointed out, President McKinley never actually visited, saw, or had any historic connection to the mountain after which he was named.
In fact, President McKinley is widely regarded as a good president, though not great, having spent much of history in the shadow of his successor, Theodore Roosevelt! He managed the Spanish-American War that gave the US control of the Philippines, and kicked off America’s international involvement, even earning criticism for being an imperialist! It’s hard to make a case that the tallest mountain in America should be named after someone largely regarded as average!
So for now, despite vows by the opposing party to restore McKinley’s name after the next election (read: please vote for me, Ohio), Denali is back to being Denali, enormous, terrifying, and mysterious, only visible to 30% of the people who visit it. It has stood through the high times of the Athabaskan people, and it will continue to stand long after the last president has held office! Its legacy is far greater than that of any name!