Those assessing whether our Colorado maps are tarnished by Gore’s name might want to take an additional factor into consideration: Shortly after Gore inherited an estimated 7,000-9,000 acres of land in the counties of Galway, Donegal, Limerick and Offaly in 1842, Gore left Ireland and spent his life primarily in England and Scotland.

The Great Potato Famine struck Ireland in 1845 and continued through 1849. During the famine, on Gore’s instructions, his agent, who eventually was assassinated, demanded full rents despite the crop failures and evicted those who couldn’t pay. Their houses were destroyed and they were driven off to join the hundreds of thousands of other starving, dispossessed farmers.

An estimated 1 million to 1.5 million people died while Gore used the income from his Irish holdings to live an extravagant lifestyle that culminated in the 1854-57 expedition in which his hunting excesses needlessly decimate thousands of animals that provided sustenance for Rocky Mountain tribes and settlers.