DENVER — At the Jan. 24 meeting of the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board, several proposed name changes for Kit Carson Peak in Saguache County were discussed without any decision being made.
During the meeting, Jennifer Runyon who is with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) said the (federal) board had just recently received an additional proposed name to be considered, Mount Crestone from the Town of Crestone. According to Runyon, if adopted, that new name would be added to the already named Crestone Peak, Crestone Needle, and could potentially complicate search and rescue operations. Runyon also said that the federal BGN, "Also wishes to honor local use and opinion and if the Town of Crestone is the closest town and they are adamant that they always call it Crestone Peak; they claim they are not confused."
Any decision the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board makes to Gov. Polis must garner his support, which is then forwarded to the federal board, which makes the final decision. The board was created by Polis to consider renaming place names considered offensive.
On Jan. 23, The U.S. Board on Geographic Names issued its Quarterly Review List including these proposed new names that have been submitted, Lawrence Peak, Frustum Peak, Tabeguache Ute Peak. Runyon added the fourth proposed name change of Mount Crestone to those under consideration.
The inclusion of an additional Crestone named peak in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains is not the only confusing aspect to this story.
The BGN review list cited the Valley Courier article of Dec. 27, "Submitting comments to geographic renaming process is valued and confusing." According to the BGN, "The article reported that the Saguache County Commissioners had voted in favor of a name change, adding, "Kit Carson was noted for his bravery in settling the West, however, he was involved in the massacres of indigenous peoples and suppression of the Apache and Dine among others. This genocide should not be celebrated." Further, "It turns out two lower peaks of Kit Carson Mountain have already been renamed Challenger and Columbia. I would be in favor of a rename of the highest peak, while consulting the community of Crestone and the Ute and Dine people." The article noted that the commissioners "did not suggest a new name." That article cited by the BGN detailed the process involved that anyone interested in submitting a name change, must first file it with the federal board before the state board can consider it.
During the Jan. 24 meeting, Town of Crestone Board of Trustees member Kizzen Laki said, "Nobody in Crestone confuses the Crestone Needle with Crestone Peak." Laki continued, "A lot of the locals really avoid calling that mountain Kit Carson. Kit Carson had a reputation that was not all that good in the Valley, not pleasant with the Native Americans. People did not like to use the name Kit Carson."
After public comment, it was decided that no action would be taken by the board and the proposed name change would be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of the board on March 25 at 5 p.m.
