Since 1871, a mountain peak in Yellowstone National Park has worn the name Mount Doane, named after Lieutenant Gustavus Cheyney Doane. But with this name’s grim history has seen it declared offensive and as of this month, the National Park Service has renamed the mountain First Peoples Mountain.
This completely shifts what the peak draws attention to, from the attacker to the individuals attacked. In 1870, Doane led an assault known as the Marias Massacre against local Piegan Blackfeet. 173 Native Americans died as a result. In announcing the name change, NPS revealed, “Doane wrote fondly about this attack and bragged about it for the rest of his life.”
The Blackfeet tribe, Gustavus Doane, and First Peoples Mountain
The 1870 Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition saw a team of four explore several key locations of the park as part of the second expeditionary effort in recent years. They encountered geyser basins, explored the Grand Canyon, and ascended several peaks, all while trying to take measurements of significant natural features. NPR writes that these efforts contributed to the park receiving national protection. However, Doane also lead an attack against local members of the Blackfeet tribe. Among those dead were tribe elders, women, and children suffering from smallpox.
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NPS says Doane wrote “fondly” about the attack and bragged about it for the rest of his life. For his involvement in the region, Doane had been immortalized in with the name of a 10,551-foot peak east of Yellowstone Lake. Now, as the park nears its 150th anniversary, his name will be cast down from the mountain and replaced with a name focusing on those caught up in the attack.
Mount Doane becomes First Peoples Mountain
The announcement came on June 9 after a 15-0 vote solidified by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to remove the “offensive” name. “It is a victory, yes,” said executive director of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council William Snell. “Is history being rewritten and retold truthfully? I hope so.” The new name was made by discussing options with the Rocky Mountain Tribal Council, and after Yellowstone conducted outreach with 27 tribes across several months. No objections were raised among those consulted.
(NEWS RELEASE) Yellowstone’s Mount Doane name changes to First Peoples Mountain; Action taken to remove offensive name from America’s first national parkhttps://t.co/Luo68gdEaD#FirstPeoplesMountain (center) rises between Top Notch Peak (foreground) & Mt. Stevenson (right) pic.twitter.com/QLk44phWlT
— Yellowstone National Park (@YellowstoneNPS) June 9, 2022
What does this mean? On an official level, the BGN is responsible for maintaining consistent names for geographic locations in federal documentation. Sure enough, the Domestic Names Geographic Names Information System will be adopting the name First Peoples Mountain after this announcement. At the personal and historic level, it puts a spotlight on a tragic part of history that had been celebrated with tributes like the mountain name. It may also mark the start of a continuing trend by NPS to address “other derogatory or inappropriate names in the future.”
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