A mountain in Oregon’s Umpqua National Forest could get a new name at the end of the year. Joy McClain, 81, a Eugene resident, has spearheaded this effort after seeing the mountain’s name in a local paper. “I thought ‘this is crazy,'” McClain said when she saw the mountain’s name in a local paper and felt called to action. “I decided maybe I can’t do anything, but I’m going to look into what it takes to change the name of the mountain,” McClain said. Swastika Mountain got its name from the extinct town of Swastika — which reportedly took its name from the owner of a cattle ranch who would brand his cattle with the symbol
“This was in the mid 1900’s, well before the image became related with the Nazis and Hitler,” Tymchuk said. The farmer utilized the image since it was a Sanskrit image signifying “best of luck” or “prosperity,” he added.
Nonetheless, after WWII, the mountain name won’t ever change.
“That’s what I suspect on the off chance that somebody had proposed another name, it would have been changed quite a while in the past,” Tymchuk said. The mountain isn’t very notable, he said, and is in a National Forest and genuinely difficult to reach.
McClain had presented a proposition to the Oregon Geographic Names Board, needing to change the name to “Umpqua Mountain” as a method for recognizing the Umpqua River and the Umpqua National Forest.
Simultaneously, one more proposition was sent to the OGNB to rename the mountain “Mount Halo,” as per Tymchuk. This is honor Chief Halito, otherwise called Chief Halo, of the Yoncalla Kalapuya Tribe, who had lived in a town 20 miles west of the mountain.
McClain said she then, at that point, chose to surrender her proposition for naming the mountain after Chief Halo.
David Lewis, collaborator teacher at Oregon State University, said the boss passed on in 1892. He known for arranging settlements and clutching his “right to stay on his property.”
“For me it resembles getting a portion of the legacy once again to the area,” Lewis said.
Furthermore, Tymchuk concurs.
“The names that we give geographic highlights reflect both our set of experiences and our qualities,” Tymchuk said. Also, he feels eliminating the name ‘Insignia’ is extremely past due.
While everybody settles on the name change, it may not occur for the rest of the year because of rules overseeing name-evolving proposition.
Concerning McClain, she said she’s blissful regarding the chance of the change. “One individual can have an effect,” McClain said.
