Swastika Mountain, positioned in a distant a part of the Umpqua National Forest exterior Eugene, Ore., has formally been renamed Mount Halo after an area indigenous chief.

U.S. Geological Survey

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U.S. Geological Survey

Swastika Mountain, positioned in a distant a part of the Umpqua National Forest exterior Eugene, Ore., has formally been renamed Mount Halo after an area indigenous chief.

U.S. Geological Survey

A lesser-known peak in western Oregon’s Umpqua National Forest was renamed Mount Halo after residents recommended a change to the moniker.

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved the change for Swastika Mountain on April 13. The new title, Mount Halo, pays tribute to Chief Halito of the Yoncalla Kalapuya tribe.

The mountain, which stands simply shy of 4,200-feet in elevation, made headlines twice in 2022: first on the state and native degree when two missing teens were rescued there by a Coast Guard helicopter on New Year’s Day; and nationally when 81-year-old Joyce McClain petitioned to have the peak renamed final summer time.

She contacted the Oregon Historical Society and its Oregon Geographic Names Board to suggest the identify be modified to Umpqua Mountain, in response to McClain’s proposal. She stated that when Mount Halo was proposed, she felt it was a greater match and withdrew her submission.

The former identify has no ties to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, generally often known as the Nazi Party, that ruled throughout World War II. Kerry Tymchuk, government secretary on the historic society, told NPR last summer that the mountain, in addition to the now-extinct city of Swastika, have been named after a cattle ranch of the identical identify within the early 1900s, earlier than Adolf Hitler and his celebration rose to energy.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum says the image — which the ranch used for branding cattle — dates way back to 7,000 years and means “good fortune” or “well-being” in Sanskrit. However, within the early twentieth century, the marker got here to represent German nationalists and Hitler’s Nazi Party.

The mountain’s new identify was authorized in a 19-3 vote throughout an Oregon Geographic Names Board meeting in December, according to the meeting’s minutes, and was made official by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names in mid-April.

McClain stated she is aware of the mountain’s identify had harmless origins, and that some folks aren’t followers of swapping out historic names, however she felt Swastika was not applicable and wanted to alter. Looking again on all of it, she’s completely satisfied she noticed the entire thing by means of.

“I was glad I could do this,” McClain advised NPR. “One person can really make a difference. People don’t think so, but this proves that one person can, no matter who they are.”