Yellowstone National Park Changes Name Of Mount Doane After It Was Deemed “Offensive”

Yellowstone mountain
NPS / Jacob W. Frank

Yellowstone National Park will officially be changing the name of one of its mountains, Mount Doane, to First Peoples Mountain.

According to FOX News, the National Park Service made the announcement last week, citing the original name is “offensive” as the reason for the change.

The Wyoming Mountain that is 10,551 feet east of Yellowstone Lake, was voted unanimously in a 15-0 decision by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to change the name.

The National Park service said that explorer Gustavus Doane, whom the mountain was named after, led an attack on a group of Piegan Blackfeet Native Americans in 1870, in retaliation of an alleged murder of a White fur trader.

The group wrote:

“During what is now known as the Marias Massacre, at least 173 American Indians were killed, including many women, elderly Tribal members and children suffering from smallpox.

Doane wrote fondly about this attack and bragged about it for the rest of his life.”

The name was forwarded to the Board on Geographic Names this month, due to concerns from the Rocky Mountain Tribal Council.

Gustavus Doane was a sergeant in the “California Hundred,” a federal volunteer unit absorbed by the Second Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry.

He resigned in 1864 to take a commission as lieutenant with the first regiment Mississippi Marine Brigade during the Civil War.

After the war, he became the mayor of Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1867, and a year later, he became second lieutenant in the Second U.S. Cavalry. Doane served with the regiment for the next 24 years, becoming a captain in 1884. He was stationed at frontier posts in Montana, California, and Arizona throughout his career.

He fought in the Sioux War of 1876, the Nez Peace War in 1877, and the Apache Campaign in 1886.

However, he may be most notable for leading the first official exploration of what is now Yellowstone National Park, called the Langford-Washburn expedition of 1870.

Doane attempted to gain superintendency of the park and gain army acceptance for his invention, the Doane Centennial Tent, but ultimately failed.

He passed away May 5th, 1892.

Yellowstone added that they may consider possible name changes in the future, that are “derogatory or inappropriate.”

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