By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Eight commissioners for the state and the executive director of Fish and Game have all drafted letters of opposition to changing the name of Mount Washington and the Baker River.
The Departments of Safety, Education, Transportation, Natural and Cultural Resources, Environmental Services, Administrative Services, Business and Economic Affairs, Health and Human Services have all responded to a citizen’s request to the federal government to change the names of the river and the northeast’s highest peak.
But Kris Pastoriza of Easton, who submitted the request for a name change earlier this year, said many assertions made by commissioners in their letters are unsupported by data and documentation, including those that relate to increased danger in search and rescue missions and loss of tourism revenue.
Pastoriza urged the U.S. Board of Geographic Names to change the name of Mount Washington to Mount Agiocochook as it was known by native Americans before European settlement, because the first U.S. President owned slaves, and that the name for the Baker River be changed to the native Asquamchumauke River, noting Lt. Thomas Baker, for whom it is now named and his troops destroyed a Pemigewasset native village near Plymouth in 1712.
The federal board has not yet weighed in with a response to Pastoriza’s petition and people can still send their comments in email to BGNEXEC@usgs.gov.
She notes the successful change of Mount McKinley in Alaska to Denali in 2015.
The various state department heads are all members of the state Council on Resources and Development, or CORD. Their positions were collected over the summer months and submitted to the federal BGN.
Taylor Caswell, commissioner for the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs wrote in “strong opposition” for the name change of Mount Washington saying “it is without question that changing the name of Mount Washington would be detrimental to the tourism value and overall identity of this iconic landmark.”
He said over 400,000 are annually attracted to the 6,288-foot summit and its name carries “immense recognition and prestige.”
“A name change would result in confusion and a loss of brand recognition, negatively impacting the tourism industry and consequently, the economic growth of New Hampshire,” Caswell wrote.
While Pastoriza’s petition looks to restore the name Agiocochook roughly translated as “the place of the High Spirit” Caswell said the name has stood as a symbol of honor for the nation’s first president since 1784 and while the BEA acknowledges the “importance of commemorating and celebrating diversity and inclusivity…we hold that it can be achieved without altering the name of a landmark.”
Pastoriza, responding in writing to Caswell’s comments said books with the name of Mount Washington “will not disappear if the name is changed” and asserted the petition for a name change does not aim to erode history but increase people’s knowledge of who George Washington was “by eroding the national myths that obscure clear thinking about him.”
She said Caswell does not quantify in his letter how much money would be lost.
Mark E. Doyle, director of the New Hampshire Department of Safety Division of Emergency Services and Communication wrote that the proposed changes “could prevent or significantly delay the provisioning of emergency services,” to both the river and mountain “because of potential confusion, lack of familiarity, or pronunciation during stressful, life-safety situations.”
Dispatchers for the state’s E-911 system need location information first and foremost in rescue but with printed maps and USGS topography would be rendered inaccurate.
The Baker River has additional “Baker” branches and many historical connections, Doyle noted.
“Anything that impedes our ability to obtain and verify location could cause a significant delay in rendering life-safety services in situations where seconds count,” Doyle wrote.
Pastoriza said no data is offered from Safety supporting their claims.
She notes that when Mount McKinley’s name was changed, the National Parks Service used its 100th anniversary to change the name of the highest peak in North America and “the timing of the change not only helped mark the agencies centennial, it shines a light on the long human history of the park, and illuminates a naming debate that has lasted more than 100 years.”
Fish and Game raised safety concerns for inland search and rescue, particularly noting GPS and personal locator beacons would become incorrect along with all paper maps predating the name change.
“It is difficult to measure how changing these names could impact delays and mistakes in future search and rescue missions. New Hampshire is not interested in discovering this impact,” wrote Scott R. Mason, executive director of Fish and Game.
He wrote that Mount Washington got its name from an ardent opponent of slavery, the Rev. Manasseh Cutler who was a prominent federalist and leading author of the Northwest Ordinance of 1878, particularly the parts prohibiting slavery. He asked if changing the name would “sanitize history…Reverend Cutler obviously knew more about what history tells us in that Washington was the only president who actually freed his slaves and ultimately the nation by leading the United States through the Revolutionary War,” Mason wrote.
He added the move would be costly for signage, markers, road signs and kiosks.
Pastoriza responded that GPS and PLBs use latitude longitude coordinates and argues that Mason is wrong in his interpretation that Washington freed his slaves. Martha Washington freed the slaves a year after his death, but historians say Washington called for the eventual freeing of his slaves in his will.
Frank Edelblut, commissioner of Education said a change would not be in the interest of the state, its students and tourists.
Only one member of the CORD group, Jack Ruderman, manager of public affairs for New Hampshire Housing, took no position on the name change.
Sarah Stewart, commissioner of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, which oversees parks, including Mount Washington State Park said there could be many unintended consequences beyond safety, including impacts to the legacy of art that stems from the White Mountains Region from the mid 1880s.
“Changing the name of these sites does not seem necessary. Interpreting the full history of these sights, however, is a goal of ours and is an effort we welcome input and support for,”
Stewart concluded.
An advisory body to her department being sought for comment on the proposal is the Mount Washington Commission which will meet again Friday in Franconia Notch State Park, but has yet to take a position.
Derek Ibarguen, supervisor of White Mountain National Forest, and a member of the commission said he would abstain as a member of the commission and would not speak to it as his agency is doing its own assessment.
Howie Wemyss, representing the Mount Washington Auto Road on the commission said this summer that the commission has no comment to make yet “because it is not ready, period” and members should not be making individual statements on behalf of the commission.
Chris Thayer, representing the Appalachian Mountain Club said the issue is complex and being discussed at many levels within his organization, and “we are nowhere near ready” to talk.
“We start by listening,” he said. “That is our aim. I would be abstaining from a vote anyway today.”
Wayne Presby, owner of the Cog Railway said since the members all agree to more research he wanted to know how it would be getting information and what should be studied.
State Sen. Carrie Gendreau, R-Littleton, who is a member of the commission, disclosed that she is Abenaki. She said she has tried to get her relatives to take a position but has not had success, so far.
Named Mount Washington in 1874, it is also the name of a well-known hotel, an auto road, a meteorological observatory, and a commercial motor vessel on Lake Winnipesaukee to name but a few.
And then there is the Mount Washington Valley, which represents a number of communities, including North Conway that reported banner business this weekend during Columbus Day or what is also known as Indigenous People’s Day.
The local chamber of commerce was asked to weigh in but no immediate information was provided.
A petition supporting the name change has 461 names so far at https://www.change.org/p/new-hampshire-state-house-rename-mount-washington-to-original-indigenous-name.
