As a former Alaskan, I get Alaska Dispatch News delivered to my email box daily. Sometimes I even read it. My sojourn in the state was long ago in what seems another lifetime so I often ignore it.
Today I gave it a gander to get gobsmacked by freshly minted old news. 'The Great One' is so mind-bogglingly high that it can be seen from 500 miles away. There is a dinky park at the end of 3rd Avenue in Anchorage from which I first saw the mountain. Of course, it was summer and the weather was good. Still...pretty amazing.
When I moved to Anchorage in 1969, I met nary a soul who referred to the mountain by any other name than Denali. At the time, the local monicker was new to me, my history books taught me it was Mount McKinley. Anyone in Alaska who uttered such a thing was instantly pegged as a cheechako. I didn't want to seem like one of those, even if I was one for awhile. Now everyone knows the native word, The National Park officially changed it's name to Denali long ago. Not so for the mountain.
Denali is the name given to the mountain by the native Athabascan people. Too bad they aren't from Ohio.
I was aware of efforts in the early 70's to put forward Denali as the official name of the mountain. I was a resident until the fall of '71 and did lots of tos and fros after leaving. Mom was still there and my former slot as a Rondy Queen gave her so much mileage at local watering holes that I had round trip tickets anytime it suited me. The first effort (by Ted Stevens of "series of tubes" fame) to make an official change failed in 1975. I knew that.
As I discovered in today's article , every other effort has failed. 40 years and it hasn't changed! Senators Sullivan and Murkowski have tried again.
As the article states, however,
History doesn’t bode well for the effort. As long as Alaskans have been filing bills to change the mountain’s official name -- since 1975 -- Ohioans have been blocking the effort.The peak’s namesake, 25th President William McKinley, hailed from Canton, Ohio.
And
The struggle continues: In March, Ohio Rep. Bob Gibbs filed a bill that would stop the U.S. Board of Geographic Names from changing the mountain’s name.
I think it would be great if Congresscritter Gibbs would find a nice little hill (aren't really any mountains,
Campbell Hill is the highest point) in the Buckeye State to name after the favorite son.
For additional irony the article adds
In a twist this year, Gibbs was born in Indiana and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan was born in Ohio. Sullivan co-sponsored Murkowski’s bill to change the official name to Denali.
Wed Jun 10, 2015 at 11:36 PM PT: Wow! Rec list. I am truly tickled. Thank you.
Wed Jun 10, 2015 at 11:36 PM PT: Oops. Lied. Community Spotlight. Still humbled.
Sun Aug 30, 2015 at 2:48 PM PT: And now it really is Denali!!! Today, with President Obama's approval, Interior Secretary Jewel issued a signed "secretarial order" making the name change official.
http://www.adn.com/...
This order is issued immediately preceding Obama's visit to Alaska tomorrow for a whirlwind tour that includes Seward and Kotzebue but not Denali.
http://www.usnews.com/...