January 30, 2024 |
Photo – Swastika Lake in Albany County – Courtesy forward.com
The name “Swastika Lake” was apparently too shocking and politically incorrect for the Wyoming Board of Geographic Names and a visitor to the Snowy Range from California who complained about the name.
Those advocating for the change ignored that “swastika” is an ancient religious and cultural symbol of auspiciousness and good luck in parts of the world. Critics focused on the stigma of the name after the symbol was appropriated by the German Nazi Party in the 1930s.
In June of last year, Albany County Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 to recommend changing the name of the lake to Knight Lake in honor of Samuel Howell Knight, a renowned local geologist and paleontologist who spent extensive time working in the Medicine Bow range.
Kim Viner, former secretary for Albany County Historical Society, told the Laramie Boomerang in an email last year, “We decided that if the name was to be changed it should be related to the history of Albany County.”
Knight Lake was chosen to honor the contributions of Professor Knight to the history of the county and the University of Wyoming.”
It will not come as a shock to Wyomingites that a resident of liberal California came forward with the original complaint to Albany County that an area lake was named “Swastika.”
They can change names, but not the world. The swastika symbol continues to be used as a sign of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
Formerly known as Swastika Lake, the 12-acre Knight Lake, is located south of Highway 130 near the Libby Creek Hiking Trail. The United States Geologic Survey already shows the new name.
Knight was a UW professor who established a science camp near the lake in 1925.
Terri Jones, the lone Albany County Commissioner who voted “no” on the proposal, said the that “limiting knowledge and removing history are the calling cards of communism.”
