GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK — Ever wanted to help name a mountain? Now might be the time.
The Board of County Commissioners is asking the public for input regarding a potential moniker change for a mountain in the Teton Range west of Leigh Lake. The board will not make any decisions about the name, but plans to send a recommendation letter to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names (BGN) based on the public’s recommendations.
BGN is currently considering two name change proposals for Mount Woodring, which is a peak just southwest of Mount Moran, between Paintbrush and Leigh canyons. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the summit of the mountain sits at 11,559 feet above sea level.
“Due to the troubled history of the mountain’s namesake, BGN intends to change the name and is currently considering two proposals: Raven Peak and Equality Peak,” reads the Facebook post by Teton County.
The peak was originally named after the first superintendent of Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). According to a 2017 article by the Jackson Hole News & Guide, “Samuel Woodring, who presided over Teton Park from 1929 to 1934, was removed from his post by National Park Service cofounder Horace Albright after he was reported to have fondled a baby sitter.”
In Bruce Noble’s proposal to change the mountain to Raven Peak, it states that Woodring was charged in 1934, but the charges were dropped the next year, and the incident remained widely out of public view. Woodring died in Montana in 1939, and a group of people successfully urged BGN to name the mountain after him in 1963.
Now, Teton County would like the community to make known the preferred name change. The county is asking for comments on the Facebook post, email comments to commissioners@tetoncountywy.gov or in-person comments at the next two 9 a.m. meetings on July 28 and August 4.
The proposal for Raven Peak by Noble says the following: “Raven Peak is being proposed because ravens are commonly found in the Tetons, they are considered intelligent birds, and the raven is considered significant in most Native American cultures. The name Raven Peak is also being specifically recommended because it is the name of an animal, not a person. The reputation of a person can change with the passage of time, whereas the status of a raven is not likely to change as years pass.”
The proposal for Equality Peak by Jim Greer says the following: “Equality Peak acknowledges the State of Wyoming’s nickname as the Equality State. The name celebrates Wyoming’s leadership as the first in the U.S. to grant political rights to women equal to men. This act inspired the nation to follow Wyoming’s lead and was the first of its kind in the world granting women unrestricted voting power.”
Read the proposal for Raven Peak here, and the proposal for Equality Peak here. Visit the Teton County Facebook page to comment.
