Federal officials on Friday renamed a towering mountain southwest of Denver as part of a national effort to address the history of oppression and violence against Native Americans. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names voted overwhelmingly to change Mount Evans to Mount Blue Sky at the request of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes and with the approval of Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
Mount Evans, the Colorado fourteener in Clear Creek County that was named after the state's disgraced territorial governor John Evans, now has a new name.
The U.S. Board on Geographic Names officially renamed Mount Evans to Mount Blue Sky during the Council of Geographic Names Authorities conference Friday afternoon. The name change happened after two nation-to-nation consultations with tribal leaders, according to a press release issued Friday by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Tribal leaders advocated for the name change because Mt. Evans was named after John Evans, who served as territorial governor of Colorado from 1862 to 1865.