Mt. Denali Research Paper

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo & Juliet 2.2 43-44). Shakespeare wrote these words to indicate that the value of a name is placed there only by the people who use it and no matter the name, it does not change the object. Roses are sweet in smell no matter the name and Mt. Denali is going to be the largest mountain in North America whether the name is Denali or McKinley. However, like the Capulet’s and Montague’s fought over because of a name; the states of Alaska and Ohio have waged a battle over the name of a mountain. The recent name change of Mt. McKinley to Mt. Denali was the correct decision to honor the true history of the Alaskan people and the mountain itself.
Mt. Denali

It was named by William Dickey, a Seattleite, who was leading a gold prospecting dig in the sand of the Susitna River in 1896. Upon his return, Dickey wrote "We named our great peak Mount McKinley, after William McKinley of Ohio, who had been nominated for the Presidency, and that fact was the first news we received on our way out of that wonderful wilderness"(p.52-61). Dickey, whilst gold prospecting, had met many silver miners. These miners strongly promoted Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan ideal of a silver standard. This is what is believed to lead Dickey to name the mountain after McKinley, a big proponent of the gold standard (Mills, p.1). McKinley was elected president and gold remained the standard for US currency; however, early in his second term, President McKinley was shot by man named Leon Czolgosz on September 6, 1901 and died of his wounds on September 14. His death sparked a favor in a commemoration of his memory. The federal government officially adopted the name Mount McKinley in 1917 when President Woodrow Wilson signed into law "An Act to establish the Mount McKinley National Park in the territory of