The Struggle to Rename 'Horse Heaven'
Local farmers hope to rebrand their rugged 'Horse Heaven' hills as 'Benton Slope,' but history—and local geography—proves hard to change.
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The devotees of high art who till the soil in the tall bunch grass country west of the Columbia, which has been known as 'Horse Heaven' since before most of them were born, are making an effort to change the name of their 'vale of Cashmere' to 'Benton Slope.' They seem to have forgotten that it is almost as difficult to change the name that a section of country has borne for a generation or more as it is to change the migratory habits of the birds, and that wheat will grow just as finely in 'Horse Heaven' as it will in 'Benton Slope.'
“They seem to have forgotten that it is almost as difficult to change the name that a section of country has borne for a generation or more as it is to change the migratory habits of the birds.”
The desire to 'gentrify' a name for better marketability is a timeless trend. Though modern developers often succeed in rebranding, the resistance here shows the deep, stubborn attachment residents have to their regional identity.
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