Federal Committee Recommends Renaming Devils Tower To Bear Lodge

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Federal Committee Recommends Renaming Devils Tower To Bear Lodge
A federal committee has recommended that the Sec. of Interior change the name of Devils Tower to Bear Lodge. She can't, however, because Wyoming is the only state exempt from the Antiquities Act. Only an act of Congress could do so.

Andrew Rossi
June 24, 2024
6 min read


Devils Tower in northeast Wyoming. (Getty Images)

On-again, off-again efforts to rename Devils Tower to Bear Lodge is on again with a federal naming committee pushing for the change. ... The federal Reconciliation in Place Names Committee, a subcommittee of the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, is recommending Secretery of the Interior Deb Haaland submit a request to the Biden administration to change the name of "the sacred geographic feature in Wyoming known as 'Devils Tower'" and the unincorporated community surrounding it to Bear Lodge, which is what it was called by American Indians before it was Devils Tower.

The push comes after the committee’s last meeting June 10-11 in Rapid City, South Dakota. ... Futhermore, the committee suggests Haaland can bypass Biden altogether because she has authority to rename America’s first national monument just as her DOI has renamed hundreds of other geographic features with names derogatory to American Indians and other groups.

Renaming the nation's first national monument has been a divisive issue for a while. Wyomingites who have spent decades living their lives within sight of the massive monolith of rock feel their concerns are being overlooked in the debate.

"They try to do these name changes behind the scenes with no input from the people who are directly impacted," Wyoming Senate President Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, told Cowboy State Daily. "My family's been in this corner of Wyoming for eight generations, and they treat us like somebody that just came off the turnip truck from New York.”

{snip}

Andrew Rossi can be reached at [e-mail].

[hlthe2b]

1. I'm all for restoring Native American names... But, I can see the problem here. Devil's Tower has been associated

with that natural landmark for so long that the numbers of opponents to renaming would likely be quite large. Plus, Bear Lodge doesn't seem in keeping with the "towering" natural feature.

But...

[hoosierspud]

3. The tower is very close to

The Bear Lodge Mountains just east of there near Sundance, WY. It's a regional name.

[hoosierspud]

4. The tower is close to

The Bear Lodge Mountains just east of there near Sundance, WY. It's a regional name.

[lapfog_1]

2. they could rename it "Barad-Dur" and put a large creepy holographic eye on top

surrounding by flames...

or maybe a big flashing panel of lights playing the ET communication "song" organ music with "Aliens welcome" underneath.

you know, just in case

[LauraInLA]

5. Did you all know this? I had no idea!

From the article:

“In the aftermath of the bitter battle over the establishment of Grand Teton National Park in the 1940s, Wyoming received an exemption from the presidential power of the Antiquities Act.

Under Title 54 of U.S. Code regarding American Antiquities, "no extension or establishment of national monuments in Wyoming may be undertaken except by express authorization of Congress."

[Martin68]

6. Pathetic to imply renaming the monument impinges in any way on the rights of multi-generational Wyomingites.

Are they so insecure in their family history that it collapses if the name of a geographical monument is changed? What about the far longer history of the Native Americans who lived there and first named the feature? What about their religious freedom rights to honor a sacred site? What similar claim do White Wyomingites have?