The dark side of Mount Diablo's name prompted an Oakley man to seek a name change, but the U.S. Board on Geographic Names voted unanimously to reject the proposal.
Posted on 10/14/2005 12:50:33 PM PDT by SmithL
Keep the stationery. Mount Diablo will remain Mount Diablo.
The U.S. Board on Geographic Names has voted unanimously to reject a name-change plea from an Oakley man who objected to the moniker on religious grounds.
The board also nixed Mount Ohlone and Mount Miwok, the names of two indigenous Bay Area Native American tribes, which had been suggested by a Marin County couple.
Art Mijares originally asked to name the peak Mount Kawukum. But after he learned that tag was an early 20th century developer's gimmick, he switched to Mount Yahweh.
Mijares told the Geographic Names board that "Yahweh," commonly known as a Hebrew word for God, also means "The Creator" in the tribal language of the Miwok tribe. A tribe spokeswoman, however, has said the word is not listed in the Miwok dictionary.
The board, based in Portland, Ore., decided that "Mr. Mijares has a cause but (members) saw no compelling reason to change the name," said spokeswoman Jennifer Runyan. The board ruled Tuesday
The decision came as little surprise to Mijares, given the considerable state and local opposition.
"I understand that it is a long-standing name and I understand there are interest groups that aren't open to change," Mijares said. "But it is an effort that will continue in the hearts and minds of those involved. As far I am concerned, I have already changed the name in my vocabulary."
Numerous organizations devoted to astronomy, aviation, surveying and recreation rely on Mount Diablo as a major landmark, and the mountain's name and location is noted on hundreds of maps and documents.
The California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names, Mount Diablo Pilots Association, Save Mount Diablo and Contra Costa County, among others, registered strong opposition.
And not only does a 75-year-old state park bear its name, but the Bureau of Land Management officials said the meridian's name is derived from the mountain and a change could lead to confusion.
"The decision makes sense," said Seth Adams, land programs manager for Save Mount Diablo. "It's a well-loved, well-established name, and there was no reason to change it."
But Mijares, a deeply devout Christian man who leads young people onto the mountain to hike and camp, has called the name offensive.
"Words have power, and when you start mentioning words that come from the dark side, evil thrives," Mijares said in April after he filed the application. "Why should we have a main feature of our community that celebrates the devil?"
Ironically, the peak's name came as a mistake rather than a plan to honor Lucifer.
According to an article by noted Bay Area researcher Bev Ortiz, the name Mount Diablo grew from the Spanish name given to an Indian village set near a willow thicket in modern-day Concord, where Chupcans staged a daring nighttime escape during an 1805 military campaign.
Spanish soldiers said evil spirits helped the Indians evade them and named the site "Monte del Diablo," or thicket of the devil. American explorers later mistakenly applied that name to the mountain.
The dark side of Mount Diablo's name prompted an Oakley man to seek a name change, but the U.S. Board on Geographic Names voted unanimously to reject the proposal.
Sheesh.
Mt. Diablo is a good radio repeater site.
I'm amazed that the California Libs haven't started a statewide campaign to rename all the major cities there...you know, the "Sans", named after saints, and "Los Angeles", named after those "mythical" religious icons.
Or do I speak too soon?
Wacko. The left and the MSM try to make us believe that anybody who ever goes to church or says a prayer before supper is just like this guy.
Doo whacka doo whacka doo....
Just think, if he had succeeded, Devil's Postpile would be next, followed by all the Devil's lakes around the country.
From www.curbstone.org
there appear to be some thirty-four Connecticut locations which either bear the Devil's name or nick-name (no pun intended), or are identified with his traditional home stomping ground. Leading the list of places named for the Devil are Dens with five, followed closely by Backbones with four, and Footprints, Rocks and Kitchens with two each. The entire list includes: Devil's Den (Plainfield,* Weston, Monroe, Franklin, Sterling) Devil's Backbone (Bethlehem, Plymouth, Bristol, Cheshire) Devil's Footprint (Montville, Branford) * See separate chapter in this book. Devil's Rock (Old Saybrook, Portland) Devil's Kitchen (Burlington, Thomaston) Devil's Hopyard (East Haddam) Devil's Meditation (shared by Middlebury and Watertown) Devil's Island (in the Quinebaug River above Danielson) Devil's Gap (Brookfield) Devil's Gorge (Weston) Devil's Jump (Derby) Devil's Plunge (Morris) Devil's Pulpit (Hamden) Devil's Mouth (Redding) Devil's Wharf (Deep River) Devil's Dripping Pan (Branch Brook) Devil's Belt (all of Long Island Sound girdling Connecticut) When two Satan's Kingdoms (New Hartford, Bethany), a Satan's Ridge (New Hartford), a Tophet Ravine (Roxbury), a Hell Hole (Simsbury), a Hell's Hollow (Plainfield) and a Purgatory Brook are added to the roll of satanic spots, it becomes pretty obvious that in Connecticut's topography, anyway, the Devil never took the hindmost.
Oh, I can see it now...all those names change to use word's like angel and Yahweh and Jesus. Yeah...that's going to happen....
After the Loma Prieta quake, the Navy had to use its back-up tower on top of Mt. Diablo. It had garage doors flopping all over East-County.
Finally! A thin ray of sanity!
Well, the ACLU hasn't weighed in, yet.
Why not just rename it Mt. NAMBLA and be done with it?
Wonder if the guy ever eats devil's food cake?
Boy Scouts in the area know that early Indians referred to it as "Spirit Mountain." The Spanish translated that into "Devil Mountain."
The article you posted seems to cast doubt on that assertion. It says that the Spanish named a thicket, not a mountain, "monte del Diablo," because they believed that the Indians were helped by the devil during a battle.
"Wonder if the guy ever eats devil's food cake?"
Certainly not! Perish the thought! Angel food cake only for him.
Heck, you go and rename everthing today, and 20 years from now somebody new will get offended by it.
True. SF managed to rename Army Street to Cesar Chavez Way but the street was a freeway offramp, and when the sign costs came in they balked. I would never allow changing a name because of the offense of someone. In SF's case I guess the idea of the military was offensive and the idea of the founder of the farm workers union was worthy of the honor of a street. If a vote came up and the majority decided to honor someone or the like and the public supported the costs then OK. It is time to ring down the curtain on Political Correctness and Offense.
TROLL.
Welcome to FR.
(Words of death to trolls)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.