P6 The SpokeSman • WedneSday, SepTember 29, 2021
RETHINKING KIT CARSON’S
COMPLICATED HISTORY (PART 2)
Klamath Falls
wrestles with park’s
name and its past
BY JOE SIESS
klamath Falls herald and news
Don Gentry, chair of the
Klamath Tribes, recalled be-
ing told of a single Modoc who
snuck into John Frémont’s
camp and killed one of their
companions, leading to the at-
tack on the Klamath fishing vil-
lage in retribution.
“The way I heard the story
first, it was explained to me ver-
bally,” Gentry said. “I thought it
was an individual Modoc and
in retaliation, they raided the
Klamath village.”
Jeffrey Ostler, a professor at
the University of Oregon who
specializes in the history of the
American West — particularly
American Indian history —
said people like Kit Carson and
Frémont, his travel companion,
wouldn’t have bothered to fig-
ure out who exactly attacked
them, an indication of how they
viewed Indigenous people at
the time.
“This perspective that an In-
dian is an Indian instead of an
individual is just symbolic of
what has happened here and in
the nation,” Gentry said.
The massacre at Dokdokwas
in 1846 left a scar on the Klam-
ath Tribes. And the fact that
one of the first things one sees
on the way into Klamath Falls
is Kit Carson Park — a place
named after a man who massa-
cred a Klamath village — only
brings the Basin’s past traumas
of colonialism and genocide to
the surface.
How the park got its name, and
how it could change it
In 1930, 84 years after the
raid on Frémont’s camp and the
subsequent massacre at Dok-
dokwas, the Daughters of the
American Revolution donated a
plaque along Highway 140 just
west of town.
The plaque reads, “Here John
C. Frémont camped on his sec-
ond journey of exploration in
May of 1846, was attacked by
Indians and lost three men for
one of whom he named the
stream.”
arden barnes/report for america
Denny Creek Memorial along 140 in Klamath Falls on Sept. 14.
Read Part 1 online
This is the second of two
parts about kit Carson and
his namesake park in klam-
ath Falls. read the first part at
redmondspokesman.com/
features
Library of Congress photo
Christopher “Kit” Carson was
born in Kentucky in 1809 and
raised in Missouri before moving
to New Mexico. At the time, Indig-
enous people held a great deal
of power and presence in each
place, Johnson said.
The plaque is known as the
Denny Creek Marker, in refer-
ence to the creek named after
one of Fremont’s companions
who was killed in the ambush.
There is no monument com-
memorating the massacre of the
Klamath at Dokdokwas.
In 1948 a four-lane parkway
was built in town to reduce traf-
fic, and the editor of the Herald
and News suggested naming it
after Kit Carson. The highway
was called Kit Carson Park-
way, and Kit Carson Park was
named after the road that ran
alongside.
The Oregon Department of
Transportation renamed Kit
Carson Parkway to Crater Lake
Parkway in the early 2000s after
a local committee submitted a
proposal to change the name.
But Kit Carson Park remained.
Now, decades later, the equity
task force has asked the city to
change the name of the park,
so as not to honor a man who
killed countless Indigenous
people during his expeditions
into what is today Klamath
County.
“From my perspective, it is
hard to honor somebody who
perpetrated such a terrible act,”
Gentry said. “Namely, honor-
ing this individual by naming
a park after them is not appro-
priate. It just reminds us of our
tragic history. It is just a symbol
of how we’ve been mistreated
and marginalized over time.”
Carol Westfall, the mayor of
Klamath Falls, said she wants to
get the community involved in
deciding if, and how, to rename
a place like Kit Carson Park. She
said focusing on why it should
be done is imperative.
“It’s very important for the
city that we have buy-in, and
I think once you explain it to
people, you can get a lot of peo-
ple on board,” Westfall said.
“Even before we started, one of
the reasons we started the task
force is that we saw (Kit Carson
Park) needed to change. Part
of our plan is to rename some
of these things we now know
weren’t so great for our com-
munity.”
Westfall added that the pro-
cess of changing the park’s
name would start with the city
Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment. Then a Parks and Rec-
reation committee, comprised
of a group of citizens, would
move forward from there if they
choose.
Professor Susan Johnson said
since the 1970s there have been
calls to change the name of
parks and monuments named
for Kit Carson after people be-
gan to realize the truth about
the man behind the myth.
“A lot of those naming of
places for Carson took place in
the late 19th century and the
earlier 20th century, and that
was an era that saw a rising tide
of white supremacy,” Johnson
said. “I don’t think anything
needs to be named after Kit
Carson. But I do think that the
conversations about it are al-
ways clouded by this confusion
of the historical person — Kit
Carson — and the dime novel
hero.”
e
Reporter Joe Siess can be reached
at 541-885-4481 or jsiess@
heraldandnews.com.
PET OF THE WEEK
New Redmond Airport
welcome desk greets
Central Oregon visitors
bulletin staff report
Visitors coming to the re-
gion through the Redmond
Airport will now be greeted by
Central Oregon’s birds, flowers
and favorite things to do.
Visit Central Oregon, the re-
gion’s tourism agency, has set
up a new in-terminal visitor in-
formation center and welcome
desk for inbound passengers at
the airport. The booth, staffed
part time by Visit Central Ore-
gon representatives, is stocked
with information about places
to eat, stay and play across the
region, according to the agency.
It also prominently features
the work of two local artists,
Katie Daisy and Karen Eland,
with a mural featuring the re-
gion’s natural beauty and wish-
ing visitors “greetings from
Central Oregon.”
“It’s a chance to steer visitors
in directions and toward activ-
ities they might not be aware of
otherwise, such as some of our
outlying partners and commu-
nities, or the regional mural
trail which is featured prom-
inently at the desk,” said Visit
Central Oregon CEO Julia
Theisen in a press release.
According to Theisen, the
new booth offers a first stop for
visitors who might not plan to
visit the organization’s Sunriver
welcome center.
“With anywhere from
30,000 to 50,000 passenger
arrivals each month, the Red-
mond Airport is a critical re-
gional gateway and we now
have the opportunity to engage
with visitors, answer questions,
and provide additional inspi-
ration before they disperse
throughout Central Oregon,”
Theisen said.
Rose Ann Langdon
of Bend, OR
Lisa Anne Grisaffi
of Bend, OR
July 6, 1942 - July 30,
2021
February 23, 1967 -
September 10, 2021
Arrangements:
Autumn Funerals. Rose
Ann Langdon, 79, passed
July 30. Ms. Langdon
resided at 464 NE Kear-
ney Ave. Rose was born
July 6, 1942, in Bend to
William & Helen Curtis.
She remained in Bend
most of her life. Rose is
survived by 3 children,
Bill, Lisa Michelle, & Tony.
Also 7 grandchildren and
1 great-grandchild. Rose
had a love for her family,
gardening, music, photog-
raphy, and sports.
Services:
Rosary and Mass @
Old Historic St. Francis
Catholic Church, October
9 @ 9am, 599 NW Lava
Rd, Bend, Burial following
@ Terrebonne Pioneer
Cemetery, 1340 NE Smith
Rock Way, Terrebonne
Contributions may be
made to:
Central Oregon Special
Olympics
OBITUARY DEADLINE
Call to ask about our deadlines
541-385-5809
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