Mount Denali
Mount Denali, located in Denali National Park and Preserve in central Alaska, is the tallest mountain in North America, standing at 20,310 feet above sea level. Known traditionally as Denali, meaning "big" or "tall one" in the Koyukon Athabascan language, the mountain was renamed from Mount McKinley in 2015 to honor its indigenous heritage. The mountain, primarily composed of igneous granite, was formed through intense tectonic activity approximately 60 million years ago and rises nearly 18,000 feet from its base, making it one of the largest mountains globally by vertical relief.
Denali is not only a geological marvel but also an essential ecological area, featuring over 40 glaciers and serving as a crucial water source for local wildlife, including bears and caribou. The region's rich history includes early European exploration and subsequent U.S. acquisition from Russia in 1867. Mount Denali has been a point of cultural and political contention, particularly regarding its name. Despite various efforts to maintain the name McKinley, local tribes and Alaskan representatives succeeded in restoring its traditional name, reflecting a broader respect for indigenous perspectives and heritage.
Mount Denali
Mount Denali is a mountain in the Denali National Park and Preserve in central Alaska. Formerly known as Mount McKinley, it was renamed "Denali" by the U.S. Department of the Interior to reflect the traditional name given to the mountain by the local Koyukon Athabascan tribe—Denali means "big" or "tall one." At an estimated 20,310 feet high on its south summit, Mount Denali is the tallest mountain in North America and the third highest of the Seven Summits—that is, the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. The first ascension of the mountain was by Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum on June 7, 1913.
Geological Features
Mount Denali is located in the federally owned six-million-acre Denali National Park and Preserve. Located about 130 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, the mountain is primarily composed of igneous granite that was formed about 60 million years ago by plates from Earth's crust grinding together and pushing large quantities of rock. The subduction of plates that caused the creation of Denali was the result of intense tectonic activity, a geologic force that continues to put the region at risk of earthquakes.
Though not strictly ranked among the top 100 highest mountains on Earth, Denali is nonetheless among the largest mountains in the world. While Denali's elevation—that is, the height of its tallest point above Earth—is officially 20,310 feet above sea level, the mountain itself rises nearly 18,000 feet from its base to its tallest point (which is called its vertical relief). The difference between the two measurements has to do with the location of the mountain. The land on which Mount Denali sits is located roughly 2,000 feet above sea level. For comparison's sake, the elevation of Mount Everest—the highest mountain in the world—is 29,029 feet above sea level. However, its vertical relief is believed to be about 12,000 to 15,000 feet; much of Everest's height is gained from its location on the Tibetan Plateau, a base that is already more than ten thousand feet above sea level. As a result, if Denali and Everest were physically placed next to one another, Denali would actually be a taller mountain by several thousand feet.
Covered in permanent snowfields and containing more than 40 named glaciers, including the Muldrow, Tokositna, Ruth and Kahiltna Glaciers, Denali is a significant water source for the region. The annual summer runoff from its snowpack creates many seasonal lakes and enlarged rivers that are vital to such native wildlife as bears, caribou, Dall sheep and wolverines. These lakes and rivers also serve as an important breeding area for many species of birds.
American Ownership
The region of the Arctic that became the state of Alaska was first sighted by Europeans in 1648 when Semyon Dezhnev of Russia is believed to have successfully reached the Bering Strait. Mount Denali itself was first spotted by European explorers when English naval officer George Vancouver reported seeing the towering mountain from Cook Inlet in 1794. By the eighteenth century, the area had become sparsely settled by Russian fur trappers who lived alongside local indigenous tribes, sometimes enslaving them and often coming into conflict with them. The area was later visited by Spanish and American explorers hoping to stake their own claims on Alaska. By 1733, however, the region had been largely ceded to the Russian Empire but by the mid-nineteenth century, Russia wanted to rid itself of the territory—it was far from Moscow and the near-extinction of the sea otter caused a decline in the fur-trapping industry. The United States eagerly purchased Alaska and Mount Denali from the Russians for 7.2 million dollars on March 30, 1867.
Naming Controversy
The Russians called the mountain Bolshaya Gora , which is Russian for "big mountain." However, now that the mountain was owned by the United States, gold prospector William Dickey wanted it to have an American-inspired name—he named the massive mountain after the presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896. After the passage of the McKinley National Park Act in 1917, the mountain was officially named in honor of McKinley; however, the local Athabascan tribes and many non-native Alaskans continued to refer to the mountain by its traditional Denali name.
In the 1970s, a growing movement to return the mountain to its traditional name gained strength when the state of Alaska announced its support for the change. However, members of Congress from Ohio, McKinley's home state, actively fought the proposition. They thought the name-change would be an insult to the former president. A small compromise was reached in 1980 when the national park surrounding the mountain was renamed as Denali National Park, though this did little to satisfy either party. The matter subsequently became tied to regional politics, with Ohio politicians stubbornly delaying any measures to consider naming proposals, while Alaskan representatives, with the support of the local indigenous tribes, continued to push for the Denali name. The issue remained in a stalemate for roughly 40 years. The matter was finally settled in 2015 when, under the federal authority of the Barack Obama administration (which noted that McKinley had no historical connection to Alaska or the mountain), the U.S. Department of the Interior bypassed Congress and formally authorized the change. As a result, on August 30, 2015, Mount McKinley once again officially became Mount Denali.
Eric Bullard
Bibliography
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