Scram, Hitler!

Way out west in the wilds known as the Umpqua National Forest, outside Eugene, Oregon, stands a proud mountain known as Swastika Mountain. It got that name from a local cattle ranch at the beginning of the 20th Century. Until recently, not many people had heard of the mountain, even in Oregon, let alone the rest of the nation. But now...time for a new name, which will likely be Mount Halo, after a local tribal leader.

Why the new name? Ask Joyce McClain, who had never heard of this big hill until this past January, when she read about two marooned hikers being rescued from the peak. At 81, Joyce has been around long enough to know what the word "swastika" means to many people, and she found it hard to believe that here, 77 years after we put the Nazi swastika and its evil fuehrer down, a mountain in America still has that name.

And let me tell you something about people who are 81. They do not believe in waiting around to see if things get better on their own. They don't have time to!

"People need to come forward and take action when they see something that isn't right or needs to be changed, because one person can make a difference, and this shows how that is so true," McClain told NPR.

She got up with the Oregon Historical Society and the Oregon Geographic Names Board, and did all the paperwork to request a name change. Kerry Tymchuk is the executive secretary for the historical society, and he said he never knew of anyone before McClain to put in a request to rename the repugnantly-named mountain.

"It is not a very well-known mountain, and frankly, I didn't know there was one," Tymchuk told NPR. "It's in a national forest, not accessible to many people like Mount Hood or Mount St. Helen. It's not very well-known throughout the state; the vast majority of people likely never even knew it was there."

Long before the Nazis came to power by using techniques that fascists continue to employ even today, the mountain and a small town in Oregon were named that way after a cattle ranch that branded their cattle with a swastika. In all fairness, at the time, the swastika meant well-being in the symbolism of several ancient world societies. Only when it was taken up by Hitler did it take on the evil connotation of Nazi Germany.

But, as The Monkees said, that was then, this is now, and Tymchuk points out, "What we name things, our features, reflects history, but also reflects values. And as history changes, so do values."

"And certainly, something bearing the name Swastika in 1903 is different than in 2022, when it's been associated with such an evil person and evil ideology."

The Society is leaning toward changing the name to Mount Halo, in honor of Chief Halito of the Yoncalla Kalapuya tribe. At first, McClain wanted to call is Umpqua Mountain, but now she's going with "Halo," too, believing it to be a better fit for the peak.

There will almost certainly be opposition from the hidebound conservatives who say, "Gee whiz! Everything's always changin' and stuff! It's getting to where you can't remember what's all right to say, and what ain't!"

I'll make it easy for you, Lee Roy. In fact, I can give you six million reasons why this is a bad name.