Residents of the Klamath Falls area have until Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. to weigh in on a proposal to rename the park. The renaming was one of a handful of , a group set up in 2020 to address equity issues with the city council.
In 1846, Carson and fellow explorer John C. Fremont at a Klamath village and many members of the Northern California Wintu tribe. In the mid 1860s he led the in an expulsion known as 鈥渢he long walk.鈥�
鈥淗e was known for scouting and he was known for killing and we shouldn鈥檛 accept that any more. We shouldn鈥檛 accept making heroes out of villains,鈥� says Monica Yellowowl, an enrolled member of the Pit River tribe and resident of Klamath County. 鈥淚 think that we have enough knowledge at our fingertips to get the whole story.鈥�
asks whether the city should rename the park and solicits comments from the public. The city鈥檚 parks advisory board will make recommendations to the city council based on public comments received over the past month. They can be submitted in person, by phone, by email and via the online survey.
鈥淭heir goal is to get as much feedback from our community as a whole as possible,鈥� says Kristina Mainwaring, a public information officer with the city of Klamath Falls.
She says the survey comments will be considered by the parks board during their Dec. 9 meeting.
Kit Carson Park and nearby Dead Indian Memorial Road, which runs between Jackson and Klamath counties, are offensive and represent a denial of the historical record, Yellowowl says, adding that ignoring that history affects indigenous people on a daily basis.
鈥淚 want a park where my nieces and nephews can go to and they can play and it鈥檚 never a reminder about conquering,鈥� she says.
