Bruce Salisbury, MSGT, USAF (Retired) joined the service at 15, after
his mother refused to allow him to play high school football. It seems
his stubborn streak has served him well through the years and in his
effort to have a mountain named for our KIA/MIA’s. He has worked
tirelessly, overcoming varied objections and finally his labor for those
he holds in such high esteem has borne fruit….Mount KIA/MIA is now,
after 5 long years, officially the name of a peak located in Saguache
County, CO.
When Bruce started his quest he attempted to have one of 33 mountains
(within CO) with the name Sheep Mountain, renamed, but met with
resistance. So, he looked for a suitable peak that was without a
designated name figuring there would be no real reason for refusal. He
was right; there was no real reason for refusal, but plenty of
resistance just the same.
One of the biggest objections to overcome was presented by the Bureau of
Land Management in July of 2005. They voiced concern about naming a
feature with a U.S. Military commemorative subject matter, being in the
midst of many features commemoratively named after Native Americans such
as Chipeta. Andrew Cowell, a linguist who specializes in Native American
languages, stated that the name “KIAMIA” could be construed and possibly
misrepresented as a garbled Ute name.
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Bruce contacted Thomas Givon, Distinguished Professor (emeritus) of
Linguistics and Cognitive Science, University of Oregon, who had worked
for the Southern Ute Tribe for 10 years (1975-1985) as the founding
director of the Ute Language Program. During his work with the tribe, he
was responsible for putting together the three basic books about the Ute
language. Following his retirement, he returned to reside on the S. Ute
Reservation near Ignacio, Colorado. He maintained his interest in the
Ute language and culture, and kept in personal contact with tribal
members who still speak the language. After consultation with several
Ute speakers, he determined that indeed the compound name Kiya-miya is
meaningful in Ute, provided a place-name suffix (ending) is added to it,
the full name thus revealing Kiya'-miya-vat. The meaning of such a name
in Ute is then, "place where people walk about playing," or "place where
people walk about laughing.” The verb stem kiya means, "To play," or "to
laugh" in the Ute language. The verb stem miya means, "to walk around"
(plural form) or "to do something while walking about" (plural form). It
is his opinion that Kiya-miya-vat is a rather appropriate name for a
mountain that would honor Ute, and all veterans. A warrior, once
departed, crosses to "the other side," a place often described as one
where a person may walk about in peace, without care, happy; in other
words, " a place where people walk about laughing.”
This main objection being overcome left the board with little room for
argument, so in October of 2006 the name was adopted by the Colorado and
National Names Board. From that time until now the Forest Service had
not given their blessing to the project, however, just days before the
annual COGNA conference in October it was received, and the name was
unanimously approved. It has been a long battle, but the victory is
sweet.
Mt. KIA/MIA is located in Saguache County, CO close to Marshall Pass,
from which one can see the mountain close-up. Rainbow Trail, passes over
the Continental Divide, and crosses the Colorado Trail about a mile
away, and then it drops onto the south side Mt. KIA/MIA to descend into
the stream course of Silver Creek, later emerging to climb out near to
Poncha Pass and proceed down the Sangre de Christo Mountain Range. There
are jeep trails on both sides of this mountain which in winter become
snowmobile trails, so it can be "near accessed" year around. You can
easily view Mt KIA/MIA from highway 285 at the top of Poncha Pass as
well.
Bruce noted that this monument will be here for the lifetime of our
generation and continuing ones and be a symbol that will be covered with
snow, washed with summer rain, warmed in the summer sun, and will change
subtly over the centuries but forever be dedicated to America’s killed
and missing in action, from all five armed services and all of our wars.
When an American warrior falls, his family and friends can “go to the
mountain” and not have to wait for years to have a memorial to their war
constructed.
The arrangements for official ceremonies haven’t been finalized yet, but
Bruce may make the journey to the mountain with his wife and a few close
friends without all the pomp and circumstance. For years he has had dog
tags engraved with the names of those he wants to honor and remember at
this mountain, adding to his collection way too often along the way. It
gives him peace of mind knowing that they and their loved ones now have
an enduring monument, where those who wish to pay tribute and remember
may enjoy the beauty and serenity; perhaps finding a measure of peace as
well.
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Larry Scott --
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