Denali
Denali, formerly Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain in North America. It is located in south central Alaska and rises 20,330 ft (6,194 m) above sea level.
In the 19th century, Russian residents called the mountain Bolshaya Gora (the big mountain), an attempt to translate the local Indian name into Russian. In 1896, gold prospector William Dickey wrote an article for the New York Sun in which he suggested the name "Mount McKinley". This was soon after William McKinley, a supporter of the gold standard, received the Republican Party nomination for president. At first this name was treated as a political joke. After McKinley was murdered in 1901, the name Dickey had bestowed seemed a fitting tribute to the slain president.[1] It is used in the 1911 edition of Britannica, and no other name was known at that time.[2]
In June 1913, Hudson Stuck and Harry Karstens led the first expedition to the summit.[3] In a book published in 1918, Stuck argued that the name of the mountain should be changed to "Denali," which he claimed was the traditional Indian name of the mountain.[4] (There are seven different Alaskan languages with various native names for the mountain.) Beginning in 1975, the State of Alaska repeatedly requested that the federal government change the name of the mountain to Denali. In 2015, President Barack Obama announced that the mountain would be renamed.[5]
"Denali" is the Secret Service code word for Sarah Palin.[6]
References
- ↑ Denali or McKinley? How a 19th century political 'joke' turned into a 119-year … – Washington Post.
- ↑ "Alaska," Encyclopedia Britannica (1911).
- ↑ Woodside, Chris, "Who led the first ascent of Denali?"
- ↑ Stuck, Hudson, The Ascent of Denali (Mount McKinley): A Narrative of the First Complete Ascent of the Highest Peak in North America. (1918)
- ↑ "Mount McKinley Will Again Be Called Denali," New York Times, 30 August 2015
- ↑ Palin Code Name: 'Denali', Washington Post, September 10, 2008.