BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) Multiple groups have asked the federal government to rename three Montana geographic features currently named after a Confederate Civil War leader and proponent of slavery. The groups the Montana Racial Equity Project, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the Montana Human Rights Network and several others asked the U.S. […]
Seven groups asked the U.S. Board of Geographic Names on Tuesday to rename three geographic places in Montana now named after Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederated States of America during the Civil War, and change them in honor of Indigenous people and Chinese immigrants.
A petition was submitted by the Montana Racial Equity Project, the Montana Human Rights Network, Forward Montana Foundation, Mai Wah Society, The Montana Wilderness Association, The Wilderness Society and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT).
Those places include Davis Gulch, just south of Helenaâs city limits in Lewis and Clark County, and Jeff Davis Peak and Jeff Davis Creek, located in the southern stretch of the Bitterroot Range.
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Multiple groups are petitioning the federal government to rename three Montana geographic features to replace the name of a Confederate Civil War leader to names that honor Montana Native Americans and the Chinese immigrants who built the state s mines.
The petition asks the U.S. Board of Geographic Names to rename Montana’s Jeff Davis Peak and Jeff Davis Creek in Beaverhead County and Jeff Davis Gulch in Lewis and Clark County.
Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederated States during the Civil War and a proponent of slavery.
The petition is being brought by many groups, including the Montana Racial Equity Project, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the Montana Human Rights Network, the Forward Montana Foundation, Montana Wilderness Association, the Wilderness Society and the Mai Wah Society, a Butte museum on the history of Asian people in the Rocky Mountains.
MT groups call for landmarks named after the president of the Confederacy to be changed
By: John Riley
and last updated 2021-05-10 21:10:07-04
HELENA â Several Montana landmarks are coming under scrutiny for being named after the man who led southern states against the United States of America during the Civil War.
The Montana Racial Equity Project, the Montana Human Rights Network, Forward Montana Foundation, Mai Wah Society, Montana Wilderness Association, The Wilderness Society and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) jointly submitted a petition to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names asking it to rename three geographic features in Montana currently named after Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America.