Will Eagle County rename the road from Highway 6 up to Cordillera?

The U.S. Geological Survey in 2022 officially changed the name of Squaw Creek to Colorow Creek. Now a county resident believes the name of the road up to Cordillera should be changed.

The topic came up at the Eagle County Board of Commissioners’ Monday working meeting. A letter from resident Richard Jacobs floated the suggestion to the commissioners, who will probably forward that suggestion to the county government’s council on diversity, equity and inclusion for further investigation.

Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney noted the county already has a Colorow Road, so that’s out.

Commissioner Kathy Chandler-Henry suggested that the county’s internal team contact the Eagle County Historical Society for suggestions to rename the road.

That group already offered suggestions during the process to rename the creek, since “squaw” is considered derogatory.

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Historical Society member Kathy Heicher noted that the group brought several suggestions to the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board, which forwarded its suggestion to the federal agency.

The local group offered suggestions based on Eagle County history. Heicher’s favorite, then and now, would be to honor Emma Fenno, a widow whose family ranched in the Cordillera area in the early 1900s. That family’s presence came after the Ute Indians had left the Eagle River Valley.

Emma Fennow was a widow and a mother of eight children who managed to eke out a living in the county’s early days. And, Heicher noted, the Ute Chief Colorow’s connection to the valley is “dicey.” The primary evidence is based on papers written by Eagle County High School students in the 1930s.

Heicher said she thought she had a strong case for Fenno, along with other suggestions, including Bearcat Bearden, the man who ultimately sold the property where Cordillera now sits.

But the state’s renaming committee, which also renamed Mount Evans to Mount Blue Sky, apparently had other ideas, she noted, and the Colorow name was ultimately forwarded to the feds, which had the ultimate say in the process.