Re: H.R. 1192: To redesignate Mammoth Peak in Yosemite National Park as “Mount Jessie Benton Fremont”

Bill would rename Yosemite peak after 19th century preservationist
Congress is considering renaming a Yosemite peak for Jessie Benton Fremont, wife of John C. Fremont and once 'the most famous woman in Los Angeles.' But the National Park Service is opposed.
February 26, 2014, 6:05 p.m.

WASHINGTON — She was called the "the most famous woman in Los Angeles."

That was how the wife of famed "Pathfinder" John C. Fremont was described in her Los Angeles Times obituary in 1902.

Though she is not as well known today, she could be on the way to gaining a higher profile — one more than 12,100 feet high. Legislation to name a mountain peak in Yosemite National Park as Mt. Jessie Benton Fremont is now before Congress.

The measure, a tribute to Jessie Benton Fremont's efforts to preserve the land that would become the park, comes on this year's 150th anniversary of President Lincoln signing the bill granting Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove, a stand of some of the world's largest trees, to the state of California as a public trust. Yosemite became a national park in 1890.

Mammoth Peak, not to be confused with the popular ski attraction Mammoth Mountain, would be renamed under the legislation.


http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-yosemite-hero-20140227,0,5442847.story#axzz2uZoii1pX

She had nothing to do with the peak so the name would not be appropriate. Emperor Norton would have been a better choice. He was more famous.

A fine idea and brief notes of her biographer on the LA Times link makes that quite appropriate. Also skewers a historical record of never naming geographic features for women. Women who are my favorite beings deserve better.

David

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http://www.davidsenesac.com

There is supposedly a cluster of mountain peaks around Mount Amelia Earhart with names of women pilots who were contemporaries of Earhart (but I'm not sure if those mountains were actually named after those pilots):

"The peak itself is located near Ireland Lake, and Ireland as the first land spotted by Earhart on her famous solo trans-Atlantic flight in 1932. The peak is also located near four other mountains with names of women pilots who were contemporaries of Earhart; Mount Evelyn, Mount Bernice, Mount Helen and Mount Florence…"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2014 10:58PM by KenS.

Mount Florence was named after Florence Hutchings, one of the first non-native children born in Yosemite, and one of the first fatalities on the Ledge Trail.

I would also suspect that Mount Bernice follows the same origin as Bernice Lake--the wife of the park's first civilian superintendent. Evelyn? Another superintendent's daughter. Helen? USGS director's daughter.

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KenS
There is supposedly a cluster of mountain peaks around Mount Amelia Earhart with names of women pilots who were contemporaries of Earhart (but I'm not sure if those mountains were actually named after those pilots):

"The peak itself is located near Ireland Lake, and Ireland as the first land spotted by Earhart on her famous solo trans-Atlantic flight in 1932. The peak is also located near four other mountains with names of women pilots who were contemporaries of Earhart; Mount Evelyn, Mount Bernice, Mount Helen and Mount Florence…"

It's absolutely stupid (and frankly an insult to the fine memory of Jessie Benton Fremont and her significant contributions to the establishment of the Yosemite Grant) to name a relatively anonymous mountain THAT LIES OUTSIDE OF THE ORIGINAL YOSEMITE GRANT BOUNDARIES after her. For goodness' sake, if one wants to commemorate her legacy in regards to the establishment of the Yosemite Grant shouldn't a land feature that resides INSIDE the original Yosemite Grant boundary be renamed after her?

I propose that they rename South Dome after Jessie Benton Fremont — and to keep the name memorable and easy to say, just rename South Dome to Jessie's Dome and be done with it!

(And if some object to the renaming of South Dome to Jessie's Dome for some unknown reason, then just rename a little less prominent dome, like North Dome, in her honor.)

.

South Dome isn't prominent enough.

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chick-on
South Dome isn't prominent enough.

Okay, how 'bout renaming the pizza deck?

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eeek

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chick-on
South Dome isn't prominent enough.

Okay, how 'bout renaming the pizza deck?

Hey leave the pizza deck alone!

And Ruth, and Merriam, and Edith, and...

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Seems anything other than "not to be confused with that other Mammoth Mountain" would be an improvement.

No disrespect meant (just having some fun), but to quote Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen:

"What kind of stupid name is that?"

Know what we do to people like that?

From the NPS morning report:

H.R. 1192 (McClintock, R-CA-4), to redesignate Mammoth Peak in Yosemite National Park as `Mount Jessie Benton Fremont'. The Department opposes the bill. While Jesse Benton Frémont was among the early supporters of protecting Yosemite Valley, there is no evidence of her having a connection to Mammoth Peak. Both NPS and the U.S. Board of Geographic Names policies discourage the commemorative naming of features within federally designated wilderness.