By Stephen Smoot, The Pendleton Times
FRANKLIN, W.Va. — During the summer, regulars frequenting the Smoke Hole region noticed a small change in the trail name. A trail linked to the North Fork Mountain Trail, named after Redman Run, had its name quietly altered to Hickory Trail.
Residents noted that they feared that the forest service had made a mistake, misinterpreting the name of the creek and trail as originating in a slur against American Indians, rather than honoring a black family that repeatedly made history in the Potomac Highlands.
Andrea Brandon, public affairs officer for the United States Forest Service office for the Monongahela National Forest, confirmed this did, in fact, happen.
“In 2021,” she explained, “Forest Service Chief Randy Moore issued a letter supporting Department of the Interior Secretarial Orders addressing derogatory geographic names.” Those came from Deb Haaland, then United States Secretary of the Interior. She opened by declaring the word “squaw” derogatory and working to remove it from areas under that department’s purview.
The United States Forest Service operates under the United States Department of Agriculture, but followed suit.
