[Az-Geocaching] Anyone using Garmin Topo 2008?

Thu Aug 30 18:54:36 MST 2007

I think we should go back to what the old miners used to call it, before 
people got upset and said it had to be changed to Squaw _Peak_! <wink>

ShadowAce wrote:
> Not that it really matters I guess but it is still Squaw Peak 
> according to the USGS GNIS database as well. So that might explain why 
> mapping software still labels it as such?
>
>  I believe it might have to do with the fact that it was never 
> officially renamed (on a federal level). The renaming was a local 
> thing done in Arizona but not fully supported or signed off on the 
> federal level. After the local naming was allowed by the Arizona Board 
> of Geographic and Historic names, the federal Board on Geographic 
> names was not in agreement..
>
> Ah heck, here is the June 2007 report on Name submissions that covers 
> all this...
>
>  Officially it is Squaw Peak. So Garmin will name it as such ..
>
> http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/dockets/ReviewList395.pdf
> Swilling Peak: summit; elevation 795 m (2,608 ft); in the City of 
> Phoenix, within Phoenix Mountains Park
> and Recreation Area; named for John "Jack" Swilling (1830-1878), one 
> of the original founders of the city of
> Phoenix; Maricopa County, Arizona; Sec 2, T2N, R3E, Gila and Salt 
> River Mer.; 33°32'50"N, 112°01'15"W;
> USGS map - Sunnyslope 1:24,000; Not: Piestewa Peak, Squaw Peak.
> http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=33.54726&lon=- 
> <http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=33.54726&lon=->
> 112.0207&datum=nad83&u=5&layer=DRG&size=l&s=50
>
> Proposal: to eliminate a name considered by some to be derogatory
>
> Map: USGS Sunnyslope 1:24,000
>
> Proponent: Al Bates; Prescott, AZ
>
> Administrative area: Phoenix Mountains Park and Recreation Area
>
> Previous BGN Action: None
>
> Names associated with feature:
>
> GNIS: Squaw Peak (FID 11741)
>
> Local Usage: Piestewa Peak (local residents; Arizona Board on 
> Geographic and Historic Names;
> City of Phoenix; Phoenix Mountains Park and Recreation Department), 
> Squaw Peak (local
> residents)
>
> Published: Piestewa Peak (City of Phoenix; Phoenix Mountains Park and 
> Recreation
> Department; local hiking guides; IndianCountry.com; Navajo Times, 
> 2007), Squaw Peak (USGS
> 1954, 1978, 1988)
>
> Case Summary: The new name Swilling Peak is proposed as a replacement 
> name for Squaw Peak, a
> prominent summit within the City of Phoenix. With an elevation of 795 
> m (2,608 ft), the summit is the
> second highest point in the Phoenix Mountains and it has been 
> designated a Phoenix Point of Pride. The
> current name has appeared on Federal maps since at least at least the 
> 1950's, but is considered by many to be
> derogatory. There have been several previous efforts to change the 
> summit's name, but none were successful.
> In April 2003, the Arizona Board on Geographic and Historic Names 
> considered and approved a request by
> the Governor of Arizona to rename it to Piestewa Peak, in honor of 
> Pfc. Lori Piestewa, a resident of Arizona
> and a member of the Hopi Nation, who had died one month earlier during 
> the conflict in Iraq. In researching
> this proposal, the AZBGHN determined that the change to Piestewa Peak 
> had the support of the Inter-Tribal
> Council of Arizona. However, the BGN was not permitted to consider the 
> request at the Federal level, citing
> the restrictions of the Commemorative Naming Policy that does not 
> allow a commemorative name for a
> natural feature until the intended honoree has been deceased at least 
> five years. The proposal is being held
> until March 2008, the five-year anniversary of Ms. Piestewa's death.
>
> Although the AZBGHN's renaming of Squaw Peak to Piestewa Peak has the 
> support of many area residents
> and the new name is now shown on many local and State maps and 
> products, there are a large number of
> other residents of Phoenix who do not endorse it, either because they 
> do not believe the longstanding name
> Squaw Peak is derogatory, or because they object to the way in which 
> the 2003 proposal was handled by the
> State.
>
> Citing these objections, this new proposal, to rename the summit to 
> Swilling Peak, was submitted by a local
> historian. An online account of Swilling's life, authored by the 
> proponent, provides the following: "Born in
> North Carolina, he moved to the New Mexico and Arizona Territories 
> around the 1850's, pursuing
> prospecting and mining for newly discovered gold. By 1860, with the 
> onset of the Civil War, he joined the
> Arizona Guards. Rather than report for disciplinary action, he and 
> several others deserted from the CSA. He
> arrived in Phoenix from Prescott, Arizona, with friend and colleague 
> Darrell Duppa in 1867. In his travels as
> a rider and scout for the Union, he had been fascinated with the 
> ancient Hohokam ruins and artifacts,
> especially the extensive network of canals the ancient Indians had dug 
> to irrigate their fields. His concept was
> that the old canals could be re-built for modern farmers, and that the 
> soil of the valley could support highly
> productive farms. Within a very short time, the Swilling and Duppa 
> team had water flowing in a canal. By
> January 1, 1868, Swilling's home area, where up to fifty more pioneer 
> homes had been built by this time, was
> known as Pumpkinville - so named for the impressive growth of pumpkins 
> Jack had earlier planted along the
> canals. Darrell Duppa suggested the name Phoenix--for much like the 
> mythical Phoenix rising from its ashes,
> a new civilization would soon rise from the ashes of an old. Swilling 
> died in jail of natural causes while
> awaiting trial for a stagecoach robbery he did not commit."
>
> There are two other geographic features in Arizona already named for 
> John Swilling. Swilling Butte in
> Coconino County was the subject of a 1932 BGN decision, while Swilling 
> Gulch in Yavapai County was a
> name found in local use and presumably so named because of its 
> proximity to Swilling's ranch. The two
> features are located 299 km (186 mi) and 61 km (38 mi), respectively, 
> from the summit in question.
>
>
>  Basically prepare to climb Swilling  Peak because it looks like that 
> is what the name might become.
>
>
> On 8/30/07, * Guy Aldrich* <graldrich at gmail.com 
> <mailto:graldrich at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     I'm surprised Garmin is still calling it Squaw Peak.
>
>
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