Erasing Robert E. Lee’s name from a towering national park sequoia took just weeks. Removing his boss’ name from a remote California mountain has taken years.
The campaign to rename Jeff Davis Peak, a distinctive, butte-like crag in the Mokelumne Wilderness south of Lake Tahoe, began in 2017 following the violent Charleston, Va., protests.
On Tuesday, the Alpine County supervisors will vote to strip the president of the Confederacy’s name from the peak, according to supervisors Chairman Ron Hames. Instead, the volcanic plug would be called Sentinel Rock, based on a map from the 1880s.
The treeless ridge it sits on, Squaw Ridge, would also lose its name. Many Native Americans consider the word "squaw" an ethnic and sexual slur.
The ridge would henceforth be known as Da-ek Dow Go-et Mountain, a name proposed by the Hung-A-Lel-Ti Woodfords Washoe Tribe. According to a letter sent by council chairman Irvin Jim Jr., a tribal elder named Dinah Pete provided the name.
“Da-ek Dow Go-et” translates as "saddle between two points."
The story goes that settlers of nearby Summit City, a mining boom town that went bust and vanished long ago, were Rebel sympathizers who named the peak after Jefferson Davis, the slave-owning leader of the South during the Civil War. Davis never set foot in California.
Anthony Oertel, a San Rafael insurance salesman and history buff, was the first to suggest a name change for Jeff Davis Peak. He recommended "Fred Bee Peak," after Frederick Bee, a leading 19th-century Northern California businessman and pioneer who strung the first telegraph wires over the Sierra Nevada. However, the supervisors felt the other choices — Sentinel Rock and Da-ek Dow Go-et Mountain — had closer local ties.
Before the Jeff Davis Peak name change becomes official, the U.S. Board on Geographical Names, which has final say in the matter, must give its blessing. Board researcher Jennifer Runyon said the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names gave its approval contingent on consensus between the Washoe Tribe and the Alpine supervisors.
The U.S. BGN could sign off on the change at its meeting Thursday, July 9.
ALSO: Christopher Columbus statue is quietly removed from SF’s Pioneer Park
The peak reminds some people of the the sandstone towers of Monument Valley. Rock climbers sometimes test their skills on its near-vertical slopes, but the crag's remote location keeps most away.
Settlers also named a nearby creek after Davis. Changing its name could also turn into a long, drawn-out process.
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Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate
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Sierra peak on the verge of losing its Confederate name - SF Gate
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