Letter from Virginia McConnell Simmons
Geography – August 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Dear Ed and Martha,
Since your publication of my article about the names of Mts. Shavano, Tabeguache, and Antero in Colorado Central (June 2005), I have been attempting to find an explanation for the name of Mt. White, an anomaly amongst those Indian peaks.
So far, my best clue is the name of a pioneer, Otis White, who settled in the Upper Arkansas Valley in the 1860s. George G. Everett and Dr. Wendell F. Hutchinson listed him as a rancher in their book, Under the Angel of Shavano, but they did not state where his property was located. Consequently, it is not possible to suggest a connection with the name of Mt. White in the Sawatch Range.
The USGS list of geographic place names offers nothing. Often a good source for place names of Colorado mountains is the library of the American Alpine Club and the Colorado Mountain Club, but so far their very helpful staff has not come up with anything on Mt. White.
I will appreciate learning any information that your readers might be able to offer on this question. Thank you.
Virginia McConnell Simmons
Del Norte