Friday, March 29, 2024

Utah Considers Changing Name of Negro Bill Canyon

negro bill canyon sign

*Lawmakers in Utah are considering changing the name of its popular trail, Negro Bill Canyon, a title that some find offensive, while others view it as a point of historical pride, reports AP.

The picturesque canyon in southern Utah is named for William Granstaff, a black cowboy who ran cattle there in the 1870s. Landmarks named for white historical figures aren’t generally prefaced by race, Grand County Councilwoman Mary McGann said, and the canyon should bear his last name instead.

“We should evolve,” McGann said Wednesday.

Negro Bill Canyon in Utah
Negro Bill Canyon in Utah

She’s planning to ask the council to recommend a name change to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names as soon as Aug. 4.

But Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake City chapter of the NAACP, says the name isn’t offensive. She’s drumming up support to keep the name that makes it clear the canyon is named for a black historical figure.

“We don’t want to lose the history,” she said. She’d like to see the council tackle other issues facing black residents instead, like housing discrimination. Though her group supported changing the name from a more derogatory word decades ago, they’ve opposed other efforts over the years to make a wholesale revision.

Louis Williams
Louis Williams

One of those pushes was led by Moab resident Louis Williams. His research shows William Granstaff never went by Bill, and he’s dug up history that shows his last name was actually spelled with a “d” after the “n.” The current name doesn’t honor the pioneer’s story, he said, and it should be renamed as Grandstaff Canyon.

“I don’t know anybody who would die and want their name to be left like that,” said Williams, who is not related to the Salt Lake NAACP president.

Moab’s canyon is not the only American landmark with a similar name. As of 2012, there were more than 700 places in the U.S. with “negro” in the name, according to an analysis of government records.

Grand County Councilwoman Mary McGann
Grand County Councilwoman Mary McGann

McGann said she brought up the issue to the council after the June 17 massacre of nine black church members at a Bible study in Charleston, South Carolina sparked the removal of Confederate flags from public property and displays across the South. Dylann Roof, a white man who appeared in a photo with a Confederate flag, is charged in the killings.

“It’s time to remove all symbols which, on some level, justify having a certain race of people distinguished differently from another race of people,” she said.

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!

YOU MAY LIKE

SEARCH

- Advertisement -

TRENDING