the mountain mount mckinley was officially named for william mckinley.
the mountain mount mckinley was officially named for william mckinley.
who was the mountain mount mckinley officially named for?
william mckinley
the name of mount mckinley national park was subject to local criticism from the beginning of the park. the word denali means "the high one" in the native athabaskan language and refers to the mountain itself. the mountain was named after newly elected us president william mckinley in 1897 by local prospector william a. dickey. the united states government formally adopted the name mount mckinley after president wilson signed the bill creating mount mckinley national park into effect in 1917. in 1980, mount mckinley national park was combined with denali national monument, and the alaska national interest lands conservation act named the combined unit the denali national park and preserve. at that time the alaska state board of geographic names changed the name of the mountain to denali. however, the u.s. board on geographic names did not recognize the change and continued to denote the official name as mount mckinley. this situation lasted until aug. 30, 2015, when president barack obama directed secretary of the interior sally jewell to rename the mountain to denali, using statutory authority to act on requests when the board of geographic names does not do so in a "reasonable" time period.
denali national park and preserve
in a united states geological survey (usgs) report in 1900, josiah edward spurr refers to "the giant mountain variously known to americans as mount allen, mount mckinley, or bulshaia, the latter being a corruption of the russian adjective meaning big." the 1900 report otherwise calls it "mount mckinley", as does the 1911 usgs report "the mount mckinley region, alaska".
denali–mount mckinley naming dispute