An article in the Washington Post this morning titled, "Denali or McKinley? How a 19th century political ‘joke’ turned into a 119-year-long debate," discusses what has apparently been an ongoing issue with Congress regarding the name of the highest mountain in North America.
Mount McKinley is likely a familiar name to most. While people may not know that it resides in Denali National Park in Alaska, or that it is the tallest mountain In both the U.S. and across the North American continent at over 20,000 feet, when it comes to names of mountains it is probably at least one that comes to mind. I know that I have wondered previously why it was named after William McKinley, the 25th president, but not enough to actually type "Mount McKinley" into a Google search to then click on the Wikipedia article.Apparently if I had succumbed to investigating this curiosity, I would have found that the name "McKinley" is rather unsettling for a portion of our government.
Though the government officially recognized the name of the mountain as being "McKinley" nearly a century ago - making official the name that had been proposed in 1896 by a gold prospector who was a supporter of McKinley's - numerous people were unhappy with that name and thought that it should remain the name that was given by the native Alaskans: Denali. Well, those people can finally enjoy a good-night's rest, because President Obama, in one of his more ruthless and courageous actions as President, has made an Executive Order to rename "Mount McKinley" to "Mount Denali".
That's a relief.
Clearly there is an angle to this - why else would the government use its powers to settle this issue? Let's consider the financial affects that will cascade down from this decision:
- Every geography book published before August 31st, 2015 is now wrong
- Who wins: textbook manufacturers and book sellers who will now stand to reap windfalls as all geography books used in educational systems across the country will now have to be replaced
- Every "Mount McKinley" branded pin, magnet, collectible spoon, and other merchandise just became outdated
- Who wins: antique and historical collectors whose "Mount McKinley" collection just jumped in value
- Every tour group and tourist trap that marketed themselves as "McKinley" will have to change their names
- Who wins: tour groups that are now marketing: "be the first to scale Mount Denali"
Near as I can tell, President Obama must have a sizable collection of Mount McKinley merchandise, have ownership in some portion of the textbook industry, and/or have a travel business in and around Denali National Park, because why else would taxpayer money go towards funding the decision to settle a century-old debate that no one even knew about until today?
Here is a link to the original article from the Washington Post:
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