# N.H House votes to change name of Mt. Clay to Mt. Reagan



## Stephen (Mar 14, 2003)

http://www4.fosters.com/News2003/March2003/Mar_14/News/reg_nh_0314e.asp

By NORMA LOVE

Associated Press Writer

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The House voted Thursday to scratch Mount Clay off maps of the Presidential Range and pencil in Mount Reagan.

The House voted 213-130 to change the name in honor of former President Reagan. The Senate next considers the bill.

The peak is in the White Mountains about a mile from Mount Washington, the highest mountain in the Northeast.

Supporters said it is a fitting memorial to substitute Reagan’s name since Clay was not a president. Other mountains in the range are: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Eisenhower and Pierce.

"Ronald Reagan is one of the greatest presidents we ever had," said Rep. Kenneth Weyler, a Kingston Republican.

Opponents said it is premature to memorialize the nation’s 40th president since he isn’t dead. Reagan celebrated his 92nd birthday last month.

The federal process to change mountain names can’t start until five years after a person’s death, they added.

"His memory will stand the test of history," said Rep. Paul McEachern, a Portsmouth Democrat. "We don’t have to rush into it because some group is running around the country saying we should do it now."

Gorham Republican Larry Guay suggested instead finding "a good location not in the woods" like a highway or a bridge.

"I don’t think Reagan is a mountain man," said Guay.

Durham Democrat Judith Spang cautioned against making mountains "political trophies" whose names could easily be changed.

"People treasure the traditional names of the White Mountains," she said.

Henry Clay deserves to keep his mountain peak memorial, she said.

Clay was a statesman in the 1800s. He was nicknamed the Great Pacificator for finding solutions that postponed the Civil War.

Spang noted the Appalachian Mountain Club doesn’t include the peak on its list of challenging 4,000-foot mountains because Mount Clay is only about 150 feet higher than the ridge line. That’s important to climbing enthusiasts who spend years climbing 4,000-foot peaks in the White Mountains.

She, too, suggested waiting and finding a more suitable memorial.

But bill enthusiasts insisted other memorials wouldn’t have the same meaning.

"Bridges and roads come and go, but we’ve yet to lose a mountain in the Presidential Range," said New Castle Republican Daniel Hughes.


----------



## pedxing (Mar 14, 2003)

*Henry Clay*

I've long assumed that Mt. Clay was named for Henry Clay. I'm not sure if I ever heard this as a fact.  Does anyone know if this is true?


----------



## justchillin (Apr 29, 2003)

*uhhh.... no?*

The idea is more appropriate than people are giving it credit for.  Mt. Reagan will be a miniscule bump on the shoulder of a great mountain named after a great president.  Nothing makes small men look even smaller than being compared to great ones.  

Why must partisans politicize everything?  
 :blink:


----------



## Greg (Apr 29, 2003)

Interesting observation justchillin. Have a look at this article:

http://www.1590.com/Stories/0,1413,222~23679~1332174,00.html

I was misquoted. It should read:





> Clay is really just a shoulder of Mount Washington, _*as is*_ Bootspur.


----------



## wassup (May 16, 2003)

*Mt Clay to Mt. Ali would honor a World Champion boxer*

It would seem that the legislature has been so idle that it can engage in frivolity.  Perhaps the recent fall of the "old man" is an expression of displeasure by the gods in the idolness of the legislature.  As I noted earlier, Reagan is well commemorated by "Bedtime for Bonzo" 5.6 2-pitches of the Red Rver Gorge's finest sandstone in Menifee County, Kentucky.  Furthermore climbers may be inspired to pick up a video or DVD of Bedtime for Bonzo and thereby contribute to Reagan's royalties.
The whole area is called Agiocochook anyway.


----------

