The infamous legacy of Robert E. Lee and his irrelevance to Idaho history has caused his name to no longer be used and accepted locally for the creek in the Boise National Forest that memorializes him. This serves as a compelling reason for the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rename the creek in honor of a more appropriate historical figure as proposed by the community.

Why is this important?
Idaho's only Confederate memorial is Robert E. Lee Creek, a tributary to the North Fork of the Boise River located in Elmore, County in the Boise National Forest. Robert E. Lee was a U.S. military leader who committed treason against the United States by accepting command of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War, resulting in the most deadly conflict in U.S. history, all to preserve the institution of slavery. Lee died 20 years before Idaho, a territory loyal to the Union and established as part of Lincoln’s war strategy, even became a state. Memorials should serve to unite communities in shared reverence for our history. Robert E. Lee's legacy is neither relevant to Idahoans, nor is it worthy of memorializing.