Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The name of Denali, the highest mountain in North America, became a subject of dispute in 1975, when the Alaska Legislature asked the U.S. federal government to officially change its name from "Mount McKinley" to "Denali". The name Denali is based on the Koyukon name of the mountain, Deenaalee ('the high one').
Mount McKinley National Park was renamed Denali National Park and Preserve in 1980 (the eponymous mountain itself was renamed Denali by the state government in 1975, [1] and the federal government in 2015, [2] but the federal government reverted the name of the mountain itself to Mount McKinley in 2025)
In 1896, a gold prospector named it "Mount McKinley" in support of then-presidential candidate William McKinley, who later became the 25th president; McKinley's name was the official name recognized by the federal government of the United States from 1917 until 2015.
The federal government officially recognized the mountain, which stands at a staggering 20,310 feet, as Mount McKinley in 1917. Before then, Indigenous groups had their own names for it, including ...
Trump has since returned to this theme, claiming in a speech in January 2025: "McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president. They took his name off Mount McKinley. That's what they do to people."
"President Obama wants to change the name of Mt. McKinley to Denali after more than 100 years. Great insult to Ohio. I will change back!" Trump declared in an August 2015 tweet.
King and many others who live in the mountain’s shadow say most Alaskans will never stop calling the peak Denali, its Alaska Native name, despite President Donald Trump’s executive order that the name revert to Mount McKinley -- an identifier inspired by President William McKinley, who was from Ohio and never set foot in Alaska.
Its best-known geologic feature is Denali, federally designated as Mount McKinley. Its elevation of 20,310 ft (6,190.5 m) makes it the highest mountain in North America. Its vertical relief (distance from base to peak) of 18,000 ft (5,500 m) is the highest of any mountain in the world.