Official recommendation: swap “Mt. Blue Sky” in for Mt. Evans
Milehightraveler, iStock
Colorado board calls to adopt Cheyenne and Arapaho name proposal
The Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board unanimously voted to recommend renaming Mount Evans to Mount Blue Sky, supporting the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes’ proposal and the Indigenous community members who led this movement and helped move it forward.
This recommendation now goes to Gov. Jared Polis, who should take swift action to affirm the name change, and then to the US Board of Geographic Names, the federal board tasked with review of all changes to place names on public lands.
John Evans, Colorado's second territorial governor, helped facilitate the Sand Creek Massacre where roughly 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho people were killed--mostly women, children and the elderly.
Today, more than a century and a half after he was forced to resign in disgrace, Mount Evans still bears his name.
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes proposed to rename Mount Evans as Mount Blue Sky, a name that honors the cultures and traditions of both the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The Arapaho are known as the Blue Sky people and the Cheyenne have an annual ceremony of renewal of life called Blue Sky.
