Yosemite Officials Against Renaming Peak

Washington D.C. — Mother Lode Congressman Tom McClintock’s bill to rename Mammoth Peak in Yosemite National Park in honor of Jessie Benton Fremont does not have the support of the National Park Service.

The House Natural Resources Committee recently approved the legislation and it is now on the House floor. Victor Knox, associate director for park planning, facilities and lands at the National Park Service, argued at a February 26th hearing; “The National Park Service generally discourages the commemorative naming of landscape features in national parks,” and noted there is no association between Jessie and Mammoth Peak.”

Congressman McClintock proposed the bill, as part of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Yosemite Land Grant. McClintock notes that other persons who had lesser or comparable roles in the establishment of Yosemite are all memorialized, including Horace Greeley, Carlton Watkins, Thomas Starr King and U.S. Senators John Conness and Edward Baker, but does not yet recognize Jessie Benton Fremont. McClintock calls it “a fitting honor for a woman whose wisdom, foresight and perseverance helped preserve the majestic site that is Yosemite for all time.”

At 12,117 feet Mammoth is the sixth highest peak, located near the Tiaoga Pass area.

So far, a companion Mount Jessie Benton Fremont bill has not been introduced in the Senate.