Support us in our drive to rename the Gore Range to the Nuchu Range.
On Indigenous Peoples Day, 2017, Karn Stiegelmeier introduced a resolution from the Summit County Board of Commissioners (which she chaired) to rename the Gore Range to one that honored the original inhabitants of the region - the Ute Indians . And thus began a campaign that continues today.
The motivation was driven by both a push and a pull. The push: George Gore was entirely unworthy of such a spectacular namesake. The pull: the Ute Indians and their forebears had been worthy stewards of the land for thousands of years, until their forced removal in 1881.
For several years after the introduction of the resolution, the three Ute tribes (Northern, Southern, and Ute Mountain Utes) considered candidate names, settling eventually on NUCHU, which means "the people" or "Ute" in their language.
In September, 2020, a formal request was submitted to the national USGS Board of Geographic Names, asking that the Gore Range be renamed the Nuchu Range. The national USGS board in turn has asked the newly-constituted Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board to examine the request in detail, and they will hopefully recommend approval.
The request seeks to change only the name of the range, not any of the other places in Colorado with the official name "Gore," namely 3 creeks, 2 campgrounds, a trail, a pass, a canyon, and a lake. (Click for map.)
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