# Mt.What???



## Ridgewalker (Jun 7, 2004)

As many of you know that Pres. Reagan died and Governor Benson legalized the proposal of it. I find that Regan was a good president and did his best for our country. 
   I hate to say this but when it came to Soviet Union's fall which does have its pros and cons of it. For example some of the former republics now hold terrorists and thy're weak countries so what can they do? For for the good part of it is that Russia is a better placce then it had been. 
      Currently my thoughts have been on the renaming is that they shoudn't do it. Henry Clay was fine person in politics and why shoud they rename Clay for another person. Why don't they name Mt. Reagan for unamed mountain in NH? The Scar range has plenty of them.


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## riverc0il (Jun 7, 2004)

let's put politics aside for a moment here, i really don't care if it was a repub or demo or wigg or independent or green or populist.  the renaming of mountains is just dumb.  for historical purposes, continuity, and communication having one name for one location that is agreed upon over the years and is official by the USGS (the mountain is still named clay by USGS regardless of the state of NH to the best of my knowledge).  there are a lot of minor peaks (and major peaks in the southern presis) in the presis without presidential names, so that's no excuse.  why not mount kennedy?  truman?  because it's politics, nothing more.  an unnamed peak would be much more appropriate.

it'll always be clay to me in any case.  i'm sure it'll be clay to most people as the maps won't change unless USGS changes it.


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## David Metsky (Jun 8, 2004)

The name change took place last year in the NH state legislature.  It had nothing to do with Reagan dying.  So, for the state of NH, the peak is officially Mt Reagan and has been since then.

The USGS will not consider a name change until 5 years after a person's death, and even then there must be a good reason/connection to make the change.  Since the USGS controls most of the mapping data, it's unlikely that Mt Reagan will gain any great headway for a while.  The USFS controls nearly all of the signage and trail naming in the area as well, so nothing will change.

I am not in favor of the name change because Reagan had little connection to NH.  While neither did Henry Clay, his name has been in use on that peak since suggested by William Oakes, whose name is also used on the mountain in Oakes Gulf.  But Eisenhower had little to do with NH and wouldn't have his name on Mt Pleasant were it not for Sherm Adams pushing it through just over 30 years ago.

In 5 years, who knows?  I hope things will have died down by then, but possibly not.

 -dave-


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## SilentCal (Jun 8, 2004)

It will always be Mt. Clay to me.   It's kinda dumb to rename a peak that has had the same name for over 100 years...     There are many unnamed peaks in the Whites that are denoted by just their elevation.   Use one of those mountains for a Mt. Reagan.    There are some of those Mt's south of Thoreau Falls.   Nice and out of the way


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## ChileMass (Jun 8, 2004)

I'm against renaming mountains just because a Prez died, but Isolation is also sort of out of the way and could use a name upgrade - ?  Thoughts?


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## Greg (Jun 8, 2004)

ChileMass said:
			
		

> I'm against renaming mountains just because a Prez died


FYI, the name change has been considered for some time now.

http://forums.alpinezone.com/viewtopic.php?t=439


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## jimme (Jun 8, 2004)

From the North in the Presidential range I see Madison, Adams, Jefferson, "Clay", and Washington. Well, I gues that'd be the "Mostly Presidential Range". On one hand it makes sense since Clay was not a president. But on the other hand Clay has been the name of the mountain and should remain so for the simple fact that it has had that name for so long. 

Regardless, it's a travesty that the State has renamed the peak. They should have passed legislature that would prevent the renaming of the mountains! Did anyone profit from the renaming? Weird, why all of a sudden (last year) decide to rename the mountain?

Jimme


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## Charlie Schuessler (Jun 8, 2004)

*Renaming Issues...*

Politics.....George Washington is the best President our Nation has had, and the Capital Crowd in DC renamed the Washington National Airport after Reagan...

My mistake, I didn't realize Dulles was an untouchable.

I guess that makes Clay an easy target...


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## MtnMagic (Jun 8, 2004)

Mt Clinton was changed to Mt Pierce in 1913 by the NH Legislature. USGS maps and the Board of Geographic Names use Pierce on their maps (the only president born in NH). Mt Clinton Trail and Mt Clinton road names remain unchanged.

Mt Pleasant was remaned after the President's death. It's now Mt Eisenhower.


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## David Metsky (Jun 8, 2004)

Mt Washington was not named after President Washington, it was named after General Washington, before he assumed the presidency.  Jackson is named for a state geologist.

The Ronald Reagan Legacy Project is primarily responsible for the name change of Clay last year.  They have a goal of creating something named after RR in every state.

There is also JQA, named for a president, Sam Adams, named for a beer, and Adams IV, named for a medical device.  :wink: 

 -dave-


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## MtnMagic (Jun 8, 2004)

Sam Adams named for a beer brand, Adams 4 after a medical device? Hmmm. How about Adams 5? Named after the Adams family tv show, perhaps?!
 :lol:


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## MichaelJ (Jun 8, 2004)

Shoulda renamed the Nubble. Then we'd all be bagging the Peak Above the Reagan...


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## MtnMagic (Jun 8, 2004)

Ha Ha! 

Good one Michael!

It's catchy too.


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## Max (Jun 9, 2004)

Someday a new generation of hikers is going to assume that Mt. Clinton was named after Slick Willie, and that the Georgia peanut farmer has 4 mountains named after him.

Max


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## MichaelJ (Jun 10, 2004)

Oddly enough, though I have been often asked if Clinton was named after the only president dumb enough to get caught doing what they all did, I have never heard a single person think that the Carter Range had anything to do with Mr. Jimmy.


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## MtnMagic (Jun 10, 2004)

Ha ha ha!


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## jjmcgo (Jun 10, 2004)

Slave owner Henry Clay engineered the Missouri Compromise that mandated an equal number of slave and non-slave states would be admitted after 1820, even tho there were no more states that wanted to be slave states. Clay's long career helped caused the Civil War in more ways than one. His insistence of the perpetuation of slavery helped limit the South's economic growth and it fell far behind the North in prosperity, the real cause of the Civil War.
Reagan, on the other hand, signed the MLK National Holiday bill that Carter didn't and black income rose higher during his presidency than at any time in our nation's history.
And he did something else .... oh yeah, crushed international communism, the scourge of the 20th Century.
The mountain is in the "Presidentials." Clay wasn't a President. He's the guy who said he'd rather be right than President after losing three times. To which, I believe it was Charles Sumner who responded, "You will be neither, sir."
On the other hand, Reagan dwarfed almost every other President of the past century. (Ending communism was a three-pointer, fer sure.)
Even if there were no movement to rename Clay to Reagan and even if N.H. hadn't already renamed the mountain, the mountain should never have been named after a racist who caused many a New Hampshire boy to die far from home.


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## riverc0il (Jun 10, 2004)

care to take a guess how many other of the "presidentials" (a few of which aren't even very presidential to begin with) owned slaves?  par for the course back then, even jefferson owned slaves despite having deep reservations about slavery, iirc.  washington definitely owned slaves, our first president and one of the country's greatest generals.  boott spur, lions head, slide peak, webster, and jackson are peaks in the "presidentials" not named after presidents, shall we change those too?


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## SilentCal (Jun 13, 2004)

Next thing you know,  Mt. Franklin (Ben) will be a target and he is generally considered one of our greatest citizens.  Should we dishonor him because he was not a president?   Absolutely not!   I can understand the name change of Clinton to Pierce.   Pierce was a native son of New Hampshire but when the name change occured they should have renamed the trail and the road as well.    A real lack of foresight there.   
The Peak above the Reagan.   That has a clever ring to it!!


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## Mike P. (Jun 15, 2004)

And Clay & Franklin are not mountains, just shoulders of larger peaks, Washington & Monroe.

I would have suggested renaming a peak with a structure on top of it or cell tower as RR was such a proponent to protecting the environment.  (for the public's enjoyment)


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