We all have our missions. Arthur Mijares’s just happens to be really, really controversial: The pious Christian is attempting to change the name of Central California’s Mt. Diablo to Mt. Reagan because he thinks a mountain named after the devil is “derogatory, perjorative, obscene, blasphemous, and profane”.

“I just happen to be an ordinary man that worships God,” Mirajes told the Los Angeles Times. “He gave me this task in my prayer time. I said, ‘Lord, they’re going to think I’m a loon.’ ”

The 80,000 fans on the People Against Renaming Mt. Diablo to Mt. Reagan Facebook page tend to agree.

A few years ago, Mijares petitioned the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rechristen the peak Mt. Yahweh, but was denied. He then tried Mt. Reagan after the 40th president, but was told a person needed to be dead five years before a mountain could bear their name. Mijares then responded that the devil was a “living person” and thus the mountain should be renamed.

Mt. Diablo, located just east of San Francisco, has one of the biggest “view sheds” in the West. From its summit, on a clear day, you can see more than half of California’s 58 counties. Its current name is a mangled version of the original label given by Spanish soldiers, who trapped some Native Americans they were pursuing in a thicket on the mountain’s slope one night. In the morning, the natives were gone, their escape only possible with the assistance of the devil, it was concluded, so the Spanish called it Monte del Diablo, “thicket of the devil”. Anglos mistook “monte” for mountain and the new name stuck.

The Contra Costa County board of supervisors votes on the issue next Tuesday, March 2, and the recommendation from its legislation committee is to deny the request.

“The existing name has appeared on USGS topographic maps since 1896,” says the board’s next agenda, “and also is on the official Contra Costa County highway map and numerous other maps dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. A large number of local organizations dedicated to astronomy, aviation, surveying, and land preservation have been named for the summit. The name Mount Diablo also applies to one of the three lines of meridian that pass through the State of California, and upon which the numbering of the township and range system is based. The peak of the summit serves as the initial point for the base and meridian lines.”

The supervisors are also considering renaming the peak Mt. John Muir.

Lou Yost, Executive Secretary
U.S. Board on Geographic Names
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 523
Reston, VA 20192-0523
BGNEXEC@usgs.gov