Monday, July 4, 2011

Random Factoid: Mt. Rainier Name

Continuing with the 4th of July theme...  Have you ever wondered who iconic mountain (at least where i'm from) Mt. Rainier was named after (by clueless cartographers)?  If you don't know, Mt. Tacoma is the iconic Cascadian mountain.

Throughout its history, the volcano of awesomeness was known by many names.  Many of the early names roughly became Tacoma in English.  For some reason the Seattle residents are not open to the name Mt. Tacoma.  Well anyway, Georger Vancouver named the mountain after his buddy Peter Rainier.

Unfortunately, the US decided that the name of the mountain should be Rainier.  These people effectively disregarded everything about the local culture.  i remember reading something with a map maker that said if they knew anything about the area or the local lore, they would have prefered the name Mt. Tacoma (or Tahoma).  People thousands of miles away naming stuff they really shouldn't (as they knew nothing at all about the area).   i would like a change of name for this massive landmark - one that actually reflects where it is.   

Fun fact, Peter Rainier actually fought agains the US in the revolutionary war (at least that is what i have heard).   

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