'Names Have Meaning': Task Force Moves To Rename Pingree Park
LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - A growing group of northern Colorado residents are working together to try and rename the Pingree Park area of Larimer County. The group says the name glorifies a murderer from the 1800s.
Pingree Park, located two hours west of Fort Collins, is named after George Pingree. Pingree was in the military during the Sand Creek Massacre and is documented as boasting about his role in the murders of innocent Native Americans.
"Some people have been upset about it for a while," said John Gascoyne, a member of the No Pingree Task Force.
Gascoyne said a growing number of local, elected officials and residents vocalized their distaste for the Pingree Park name.
"George Pingree was an Army scout at the Sand Creek Massacre," Gascoyne told CBS4's Dillon Thomas.
The Sand Creek Massacre happened nearly 160 years ago in southeast Colorado. Native Americans were brutally murdered by white military soldiers. Many of those killed in the massacre were women and children.
"(Changing the name) is well overdue," Gascoyne said.
Pingree Park is largely known for being home to Colorado State University's Mountain Campus. The stunning property is home to educational opportunities year-round.
When CSU obtained the property decades ago it was named the CSU Pingree Park Mountain Campus. However, according to CSU they got rid of the Pingree title in 2015 after learning about Pingree's involvement in the massacre.
The school's property was only named after the region of Pingree Park and not the man himself. However, the university acknowledged the roots of the name and elected to change the campus name to the CSU Mountain Campus.
Gascoyne said he believed the political climate in 2022 was the right time to push for the government to make a change to the community name. Because most of the Pingree Park community falls in federal land, the team has to seek approval through both the federal and state governments.
"These kinds of things, I believe, take the right political and social atmosphere. I think we are in really good shape for that right now," Gascoyne said.
Some have argued that changing the name of monuments, mountains and communities associated with controversial people of the past is an attempt to rewrite history. Gascoyne said names are not just names, but are rather associated with celebrating the actions of the people from long ago.
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"We could change it to 'Nazi' or 'Hitler,' and see if that is still just a name. Names have meanings," Gascoyne said.
Thus far, organizers say they would like the name to be switched in honor of Silus Soule. Soule is recognized by the National Park Service as being a military leader who opposed the Sand Creek Massacre.
"He wouldn't let his men participate in the massacre," Gascoyne said.
Soule reportedly testified against some involved in the murders, and he himself was killed a matter of months later in Denver. Many, including Gascoyne, believe Soule was killed for defending those who were killed at Sand Creek.
Gascoyne said the team is fielding name ideas, and feels Soule is one many can support.
"The name Soule is one that is respected among Native American people," Gascoyne said.
The No Pingree Task Force is compiling community input. Gascoyne even welcomed those who support keeping the name to contribute to the dialogue so the government can properly assess all sides of the proposal before making a decision.
