From The Storyteller
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Names
In 1928 Congress authorized the creation of the Boulder Dam on the Colorado River. Republicans, being in power and Herbert Hoover being president, the name was officially changed to the Hoover Dam. Shortly after the 1932 election of Franklin Roosevelt, the newly elected Democratic controlled congress officially changed the name back to Boulder Dam. In 1947, after Roosevelt's death, with Republicans back in power, the name was officially changed back to Hoover Dam. 1896 gold miners in Alaska began calling the tallest mountain in Alaska “Mount McKinley” after the president. That name went unchanged until 1975 when the State of Alaska officially recognized its original Athabaskan language name “Denali”. In 2015 the United States followed suit, and the mountain’s official name became “Denali”. In 2025 the political winds in Washington changed, and “Denali” was renamed “Mount McKinley”. In the 1520’s cosmographer Alonso de Chaves identified a body of water on charts being prepared at the time, "Golfo de la Nueva España" (the Gulf of New Spain). By 1550 that name had morphed into the Gulf of Mexico. With the change of political winds in America, 2025 cartographers in the United States are now calling it the Gulf of America. I’ve been Doug all my life, yet, when I heard “Douglas” I knew the winds had changed, and my life was about to get serious. Elaine didn’t know her first name was Ellen, until she was in school, and even then, only her official records used it. Note: My bride can go by any name she wants! Nameless dams hold back rivers as well as named ones. A Mountain is a mountain regardless of its name. The water between Mexico and the United States existed long before a name was suggested. Moral: Winds of time can change names, but not the things that matter. |