Public Discusses Changing The Name Of Mount Evans

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) -- Clear Creek County officials will host a virtual meeting on Tuesday night which will include public comment about changing the name of Mount Evans. The county worked with the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board and the US Board on Geographic Names on the process.

Along the way, the county solicited input and recommendations from Native American tribes including the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes.

Mount Evans, Colorado's fifth highest peak, is named after Territorial Governor John Evans, who is responsible for conducting the strategy during the Sand Creek Massacre. In 1864, U.S. Army Colonel John Chivington and the 3rd Colorado Cavalry attacked and destroyed a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho people in southeastern Colorado. Chivington was appointed by Evans.

Five new names have since been proposed:

• Mount Blue Sky (from the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes)
• Mount Cheyenne-Arapaho (from the Northern Cheyenne Tribe)
• Mount Soule (from a private party)
• Mount Rosalie (from a private party)
• Mount Evans (to be re-designated after a different Evans family member; from a private party)

"Ultimately the Bureau of Geographic Names determines it," Clear Creek County Commissioner Randy Wheelock said. "It seeks state government and local jurisdiction input. They also send out info to all 534 Native American tribes to see if they have comments or objections."

The county will then send their decision to the CGNAB and BGN on March 15.

The virtual public comment session can be found on Zoom.