In 2017, Jeri Norgren discovered a personal, indirect connection to the controversy swirling around the name of one of Colorado’s highest peaks.

A fifth-generation native and history buff, Norgren was a member at a meeting for the 141-year-old literary organization Denver Fortnightly Club. There was mention of the group’s “instrumental” role in christening Mount Evans.

“The intrigue of that little tidbit sent me on a two-year journey of discovery,” Norgren writes in the introduction of “Colorado’s Highest: The History of Naming the 14,000-Foot Peaks,” published in 2020 by renowned Colorado photographer John Fielder.

Evans’ critics have called out the name for the governor who oversaw the Sand Creek Massacre. Recently, Clear Creek County officials recommended ditching Evans for Mount Blue Sky, a nod to the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho.

Mount Evans has a new name recommended after year of debate

Evans was but one name that stuck across the Rockies in the years after definitive map-making. In her book, Norgren quotes Ferdinand Hayden of the landmark 1870s surveys: “The most difficult work of the expedition was in finding appropriate names for mountains, streams and parks.”

Previous maps were consulted, along with local authorities, miners and homesteaders, Norgren found. Native names, she writes, “(never) reached the white Americans who now owned this vast expanse of land.”

Norgren counts Evans as one of 23 Colorado fourteeners named for people. Here’s a look at some:

Pikes Peak: “America’s Mountain” has had many titles. For the Ute: Tava, or “Sun Mountain.” For the Arapaho: Heey-otoyoo, meaning “Long Mountain.” Also: Ta-Wa-Ah-Gath, or “Grandfather Mountain.” The popular gold rush phrase “Pikes Peak or Bust” solidified the namesake for Zebulon Montgomery Pike, the Army officer and explorer post-Louisiana Purchase.

Longs Peak: The government sent Maj. Stephen Long to explore the territory in 1820. Five years later, cartographer Henry Schenck Tanner put Long’s name on the highest point the major’s party would’ve seen over the prairie. The Arapaho name is Neníisótoyóú’u.

Mount Bierstadt: Albert Bierstadt captivated the nation with his paintings of the still-mysterious West. In 1863 came the famous “Storm in the Rocky Mountains,” a depiction from atop present-day Mount Evans. In 1914 came the recommendation from a respected Colorado Mountain Club member to name a nearby fourteener for the artist.

Grays and Torreys peaks: The Arapaho knew them as the Heenii-Yoowuu, “the Ant Hills.” But the summits later took the names of revered botanists Asa Gray and John Torrey.

Mount Elbert: Writes Norgren: “The name Mount Elbert, like that of Mount Evans, is a reminder of a time when the U.S. government began to slowly force American Indians from their land for its own gain.” Miners named Colorado’s highest peak for Samuel H. Elbert, who became the sixth territorial governor in 1873. One of his first orders of business was negotiating with the Utes to open up millions of acres of reservation land to mining.

Mount Lincoln: In the former mining town of Montgomery, the story goes that a prominent resident ascended the peak in 1861 and returned to call a town hall to determine a name. Lincoln was the decision, for the president.

Mount Bross: A politician from Illinois, William Bross was popular around present-day Alma, where he held mining interests. That popularity apparently soared after an ascent of Mount Lincoln in 1868. Accounts recalled him leading the party in prayer and song.

Mount Cameron: This Lincoln neighbor could be named for Simon Cameron, the president’s right-hand man. Or it could be for Maj. Gen. Robert Cameron, who, unlike the other Cameron, had Colorado ties. He helped establish Fort Collins and was called south by Gen. William Jackson Palmer to help build Colorado Springs.

Mount Sherman: This is another credit to the political-minded miners around the Mosquito Range. Along with Lincoln, another favorite was Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who led Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant.

Mount Belford: For his hair and for his fiery speeches throughout his career as a Colorado justice, congressman and attorney, James Belford was nicknamed “the red-headed rooster from the Rockies.” Supposedly, miners connected him with reddish rocks along the summit.

Mount Antero: In 1874, in explaining his name choice, the Hayden survey’s Henry Gannett reported Ute Chief Antero to be “a prominent Ute Indian, who along with Shavano (a friend and fellow chief) worked to make peace between the Indians and the whites.”

Mount Shavano: Shavano was regarded as a peacemaker between the Utes and white invaders, going as far as Washington, D.C., to negotiate. Following bloodshed and tension in the late 1870s, Shavano was forced out of Colorado to a reservation in Utah.

Tabeguache Peak: The largest band of nomadic Utes, Tabeguache translates to “People of the Sun.”

Huron Peak: The Indigenous Wyandot, later called the Huron, are not rooted in Colorado, but that’s the name that passed the U.S. Geological Survey for this stately, 14,010-foot mountain.

Kit Carson Peak: The legendary explorer, fur trapper and Army officer is remembered by this peak in southern Colorado. It, too, has been the focus of proposed name changes. In 2011, petitioners noted Kit Carson’s campaign to remove Navajos from their home land.

Humboldt Peak: German settlers in the Wet Mountain Valley christened the jagged mountain for a beloved naturalist from their country: Alexander von Humboldt.

Ellingwood Point: From Colorado College, Albert Ellingwood went on to mountaineering glory in the state. He pioneered routes across fourteeners beyond just this namesake.

Mount Lindsey: A lawyer and avid climber in Trinidad, Malcolm Lindsey knew his favorite peak as Old Baldy, like settlers before him. The ranch adjacent to Old Baldy, along with Colorado Mountain Club, later requested to honor Lindsey with the name.

Mount Wilson: Instead of Glacier Peak, the title went to A.D. Wilson, chief topographer with the Hayden survey. The Indigenous name for this rugged complex is Shandoka, meaning “Storm Maker.”

In 2017, Jeri Norgren discovered a personal, indirect connection to the controversy swirling around the name of one of Colorado’s highest peaks.

A fifth-generation native and history buff, Norgren was a member at a meeting for the 141-year-old literary organization Denver Fortnightly Club. There was mention of the group’s “instrumental” role in christening Mount Evans.

“The intrigue of that little tidbit sent me on a two-year journey of discovery,” Norgren writes in the introduction of “Colorado’s Highest: The History of Naming the 14,000-Foot Peaks,” published in 2020 by renowned Colorado photographer John Fielder.

Evans’ critics have called out the name for the governor who oversaw the Sand Creek Massacre. Recently, Clear Creek County officials recommended ditching Evans for Mount Blue Sky, a nod to the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho.

Mount Evans has a new name recommended after year of debate

Evans was but one name that stuck across the Rockies in the years after definitive map-making. In her book, Norgren quotes Ferdinand Hayden of the landmark 1870s surveys: “The most difficult work of the expedition was in finding appropriate names for mountains, streams and parks.”

Previous maps were consulted, along with local authorities, miners and homesteaders, Norgren found. Native names, she writes, “(never) reached the white Americans who now owned this vast expanse of land.”

Norgren counts Evans as one of 23 Colorado fourteeners named for people. Here’s a look at some:

Pikes Peak: “America’s Mountain” has had many titles. For the Ute: Tava, or “Sun Mountain.” For the Arapaho: Heey-otoyoo, meaning “Long Mountain.” Also: Ta-Wa-Ah-Gath, or “Grandfather Mountain.” The popular gold rush phrase “Pikes Peak or Bust” solidified the namesake for Zebulon Montgomery Pike, the Army officer and explorer post-Louisiana Purchase.

Longs Peak: The government sent Maj. Stephen Long to explore the territory in 1820. Five years later, cartographer Henry Schenck Tanner put Long’s name on the highest point the major’s party would’ve seen over the prairie. The Arapaho name is Neníisótoyóú’u.

Mount Bierstadt: Albert Bierstadt captivated the nation with his paintings of the still-mysterious West. In 1863 came the famous “Storm in the Rocky Mountains,” a depiction from atop present-day Mount Evans. In 1914 came the recommendation from a respected Colorado Mountain Club member to name a nearby fourteener for the artist.

Grays and Torreys peaks: The Arapaho knew them as the Heenii-Yoowuu, “the Ant Hills.” But the summits later took the names of revered botanists Asa Gray and John Torrey.

Mount Elbert: Writes Norgren: “The name Mount Elbert, like that of Mount Evans, is a reminder of a time when the U.S. government began to slowly force American Indians from their land for its own gain.” Miners named Colorado’s highest peak for Samuel H. Elbert, who became the sixth territorial governor in 1873. One of his first orders of business was negotiating with the Utes to open up millions of acres of reservation land to mining.

Mount Lincoln: In the former mining town of Montgomery, the story goes that a prominent resident ascended the peak in 1861 and returned to call a town hall to determine a name. Lincoln was the decision, for the president.

Mount Bross: A politician from Illinois, William Bross was popular around present-day Alma, where he held mining interests. That popularity apparently soared after an ascent of Mount Lincoln in 1868. Accounts recalled him leading the party in prayer and song.

Mount Cameron: This Lincoln neighbor could be named for Simon Cameron, the president’s right-hand man. Or it could be for Maj. Gen. Robert Cameron, who, unlike the other Cameron, had Colorado ties. He helped establish Fort Collins and was called south by Gen. William Jackson Palmer to help build Colorado Springs.

Mount Sherman: This is another credit to the political-minded miners around the Mosquito Range. Along with Lincoln, another favorite was Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who led Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant.

Mount Belford: For his hair and for his fiery speeches throughout his career as a Colorado justice, congressman and attorney, James Belford was nicknamed “the red-headed rooster from the Rockies.” Supposedly, miners connected him with reddish rocks along the summit.

Mount Antero: In 1874, in explaining his name choice, the Hayden survey’s Henry Gannett reported Ute Chief Antero to be “a prominent Ute Indian, who along with Shavano (a friend and fellow chief) worked to make peace between the Indians and the whites.”

Mount Shavano: Shavano was regarded as a peacemaker between the Utes and white invaders, going as far as Washington, D.C., to negotiate. Following bloodshed and tension in the late 1870s, Shavano was forced out of Colorado to a reservation in Utah.

Tabeguache Peak: The largest band of nomadic Utes, Tabeguache translates to “People of the Sun.”

Huron Peak: The Indigenous Wyandot, later called the Huron, are not rooted in Colorado, but that’s the name that passed the U.S. Geological Survey for this stately, 14,010-foot mountain.

Kit Carson Peak: The legendary explorer, fur trapper and Army officer is remembered by this peak in southern Colorado. It, too, has been the focus of proposed name changes. In 2011, petitioners noted Kit Carson’s campaign to remove Navajos from their home land.

Humboldt Peak: German settlers in the Wet Mountain Valley christened the jagged mountain for a beloved naturalist from their country: Alexander von Humboldt.

Ellingwood Point: From Colorado College, Albert Ellingwood went on to mountaineering glory in the state. He pioneered routes across fourteeners beyond just this namesake.

Mount Lindsey: A lawyer and avid climber in Trinidad, Malcolm Lindsey knew his favorite peak as Old Baldy, like settlers before him. The ranch adjacent to Old Baldy, along with Colorado Mountain Club, later requested to honor Lindsey with the name.

Mount Wilson: Instead of Glacier Peak, the title went to A.D. Wilson, chief topographer with the Hayden survey. The Indigenous name for this rugged complex is Shandoka, meaning “Storm Maker.”