William McKinley
In 1896, a gold prospector gave McKinley's name to Denali, the tallest mountain in North America at . The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain back to Denali in 1975, which is what it was called by locals. The Department of the Interior followed suit in August 2015 as a part of a visit to Alaska by President Barack Obama. Similarly, Denali National Park was known as Mount McKinley National Park until December 2, 1980, when it was changed by legislation signed by President Jimmy Carter.
Mountaineering
In North America, Pikes Peak () in the Colorado Rockies (discovered in 1806) was first climbed by Edwin James and two others in 1820. Though lower than Pikes Peak, the heavily glaciated Fremont Peak () in Wyoming was thought to be the tallest mountain in the Rockies when it was first climbed by John C. Frémont and two others in 1842. Pico de Orizaba (), the tallest peak in Mexico and third tallest in North America, was first climbed by U.S. military personnel which included William F. Raynolds and a half dozen other climbers in 1848. Heavily glaciated and more technical climbs in North American were not achieved until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.