ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Jan 27, (AP): North America’s tallest peak is a focal point of Jeff King’s life. The four-time winner of the 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race operates his kennel and mushing tourism business just 8 miles (12.87 kilometers) from Denali National Park and Preserve’s entrance, and the 20,310-foot (6,190-meter) mountain looms large as he trains his dogs on nearby trails.

King and many others who live in the mountain’s shadow say most Alaskans will never stop calling the peak Denali, its Alaska Native name, despite President Donald Trump’s executive order that the name revert to Mount McKinley -- an identifier inspired by President William McKinley, who was from Ohio and never set foot in Alaska. For many who live near Denali, Trump’s suggestion was peculiar.

"I don’t know a single person that likes the idea, and we’re pretty vocal about it,” King said. "Denali respects the Indigenous people that have been here and around Denali for tens of thousands of years.” The mountain was named after McKinley when a prospector walked out of the Alaska wilderness in 1896, and the first news he heard was that the Republican had been nominated for president.

The name was quickly challenged, but maps had already been circulated with the mountain’s name in place. At the time, there was no recognition of the name Denali, or "the high one,” bestowed on the mountain in interior Alaska by Athabascan tribal members, who have lived in the region for centuries. The McKinley name stuck until 2015, when President Barack Obama’s administration changed it to Denali as a symbolic gesture to Alaska Natives on the eve of his Alaska visit to highlight climate change.

Trump said he issued the order to "restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent.” The area lies solely in the United States, and Trump, as president, has the authority to change federal geographical names within the country.