Connecticut Senator Who Named Son After Mount McKinley Disappointed By Its Name Change
GREENWICH, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Connecticut state senator is one of many Republicans opposed to changing the name of North America's tallest mountain peak from Mount McKinley to Denali.
But Sen. Scott Frantz's reasons are more personal than most.
The Greenwich lawmaker's four children are all named for mountains, including his 17-year-old son, McKinley.
Interview With Sen. Scott Frantz
Frantz, an avid mountaineer who has climbed Mount McKinley, said he doesn't appreciate the change, but would really be unhappy if he were from Ohio.
The mountain in Alaska was named for William McKinley in 1896 when the Ohio Republican was nominated for president.
"I was very disappointed, to be honest with you," Frantz told WCBS 880's Steve Scott.
The Obama administration announced Sunday it is changing the name of the mountain.
By renaming the peak Denali, an Athabascan word meaning "the high one," President Barack Obama waded into a sensitive and decades-old conflict between residents of Alaska and Ohio. Alaskans have informally called the mountain Denali for years, but the federal government has recognized its name invoking the 25th president, William McKinley, who was born in Ohio and assassinated early in his second term.
"I think all the people who grew up with the name Mount McKinley -- most people anyway -- would love to see it stay the same because it's the modern era, and we've been calling it that for 112 years, something like that," Frantz said. "And at the end of the day, if people want to call it Denali or whatever they're going to call it, they're going to do so. ... I think at the end of the day, the people win by calling it whatever they want to call it."
Frantz said his son has no plans to change his name.
"We will not be going to change his birth certificate or his driver's license any time soon."
The senator's other children are named Hunter, Hanley and Brady.
Frantz and his wife also had a son named Sargeant, who died before his second birthday. Sargeant was both named after a mountain in Maine and inspired the name of a mountain in Alaska.
"The way it has traditionally worked up in Alaska in the past is that if you make a first ascent of an unclimbed peak, you can name it," Frantz explained. "And if it catches on, that becomes the name of the mountain. So there's a Mount Sargeant up there in memory of our son."
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