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The Jefferson Exchange

A New Name For Applegate's 'Negro Ben' Mountain

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Ben Johnson and wife Amanda Gardener

At long last, "Ben" gets a last name: Johnson. Ben Johnson's full name will appear on maps indicating the mountain in the Applegate Valley heretofore known as "Negro Ben," which was itself a revising of an even more offensive name.

Oregon Black Pioneers worked with the Oregon Geographic Names Board to get the name of the 19th-Century blacksmith applied to the mountain where he lived briefly during Oregon's gold rush.

Zachary Stocks, OBP Executive Director, joins us to talk about Ben Johnson and the process of putting his name on his old home mountain.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Angela Decker is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Geoffrey Riley hosts the show.