PIERRE, SD (KELO-AM) South Dakota's Harney Peak, the tallest mountain east of the Rockies, will be renamed Black Elk Peak.
Governor Dennis Daugaard (R) says he is surprised by the decision by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names as he found little support in South Dakota for the name change.
South Dakota Senator John Thune (R) says he is surprised and upset that the federal board went against the recommendations of the state that were based on public feedback.
"I’m also disappointed the board grossly misled my office with respect to the timeline of its decision, which wasn’t expected until next year," said Thune.
But 83-year-old Basil Braveheart is ecstatic. The Lakota elder, almost single-handedly launched the long-shot campaign for the name change about two years ago.
"My own people said this has been tried before. It's not going to happen, Basil," Braveheart told KELO Radio, just minutes after hearing of the decision.
"I'm still in shock. Its beginning to feel really good," said Braveheart, "Its hard to describe how I feel right now."
Braveheart and other activists argued that Harney Peak in the Black Hills was named after a man, they claimed, murdered Indians.
General William S. Harney commanded the military in the Black Hills area in the late 1870s. But activists say that Harney's troops massacred women and children during a battle in 1855.
Governor Daugaard says the federal decision will cause unnecessary expense and confusion.
"I suspect very few people know the history of either Harney or Black Elk." said Daugaard. Black Elk was a famed medicine man and holy man among the Sioux, who lived in South Dakota.
Braveheart said that the push for the name change came from a spiritual intuition he had that it was time. he believes that faith can move mountains. In this case, it renamed one.