The “un-naming” of the Mad River is on the agenda of a Humboldt County company, which this week obtained a report on the implications of recognizing the waterway’s conventional title, Baduwa’t.
Michiko Mares, basic supervisor of the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, informed the Eureka Occasions-Commonplace that the board of administrators’ dialogue of the matter represents the preliminary step within the course of and that “a lot of groundwork still has to be done.”
The memo ready by District Counsel Ryan Plotz mentioned there may be an lively motion by the Baduwa’t Watershed Council and Wiyot tribal members to reclaim the waterway’s authentic title.
Legend has it that the title Mad River got here from a notation Josiah Gregg made on a map within the late 1840s. He reportedly was noting the location of an altercation amongst members of his poorly provisioned expedition.
The river, 113 miles lengthy, begins within the Coast Vary in Trinity County, runs via Humboldt County and empties into the ocean north of Arcata. A neighborhood close to its headwaters can also be named Mad River.
Plotz’s memo [embedded below this article] outlined the concerned course of of fixing a reputation on the state and federal degree. The employees suggestion famous that although the district might probably assist that course of if it have been undertaken by one other social gathering, it’s at the moment entertaining an alternate decision to acknowledge Baduwa’t domestically “while acknowledging that ‘Mad River’ remains the official federal designation.”
Current efforts to rename different California websites have met with blended success. Amongst them:
• The renaming of the Fresno County neighborhood of Squaw Valley to Yokuts Valley was formally accredited by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names in 2023. County officers refused to acknowledge the brand new title, they usually sued the state over a regulation that took impact this 12 months banning using “squaw” in place names. A state courtroom dominated in April that Fresno County doesn’t have standing within the case.
• The renaming of the Mendocino County metropolis of Fort Bragg has been advocated by a few of its residents on the bottom that its namesake Braxton Bragg was a slave-holding Accomplice basic. The North Carolina army base with the identical title was redubbed Fort Liberty in 2023; below President Trump the Pentagon this 12 months returned the title Fort Bragg, however mentioned it honored an Military personal who fought in World Conflict II.
Initially Printed: June 12, 2025 at 12:18 PM PDT
