Some call it lovely, a town with a "rich, multicultural community," yet underneath that myth lie some very unpleasant historical facts. You’ll not find them mentioned anywhere, certainly not on any historical markers downtown, but the truth can be found by those wanting to see the whole picture.  Tribes of indigenous people and more than ten thousand years of their culture were completely obliterated here in less than 30 years by the incoming whites and the Army. The town commemorates the name of a minor Mexican-American war hero, a slave owner/trader that went on to become a Confederate Army General responsible for the deaths of many US Army personnel in the Civil War waged to preserve the practice of slavery. Not a pretty picture at all, and it gets harder and harder to deny as time goes on and the truth comes out.

It has been argued that the name is now just a "place name" for a town on the Mendocino coast, devoid of any connection to its unsavory namesake or to the history of what was done here.  But the historical truth can't be denied, and the connections to it necessarily remain in the name. There was a fort here, established to keep the indigenous people confined on the Mendocino Reservation -- itself established because of a direct threat to wage a War of Extermination signed by over 50 residents of the village of Mendocino if it was not. The troops that named their fort after Bragg went on punitive missions where they destroyed villages and murdered innocent Indians. The indigenous inmates confined here were systematically starved and used as involuntary labor in the mills and on ranches. Their children were stolen, and their women brutalized. Ultimately, the fort was abandoned before the Army's own request to change its name after Bragg's treason could be acted upon, and shortly after that, the reservation itself was disestablished so that the local whites could take over the land. The remaining inmates were forced-marched off to face more oppression at another reservation in Round Valley. These are facts. What do these facts mean to us today? 

There are those that are strongly against the change, preferring to ignore the history and claiming that it has no relevance to the town as it is today. The 'Fort Bragg Forever" contingent can often become very angry and vituperative whenever the full history is mentioned in any way. The Change Our Name Fort Bragg group acknowledges the past atrocities, and seeks to formally repudiate them as a community by changing the name of the city and thus ending the commemoration. Some shrug the issue off. The various attitudes are found all across the spectrum of the population, from multigenerational "old timers" to relative newcomers. The strength of conviction also varies, both for and against the change.

Who chooses? The changing demographics and the ever-growing awareness of the full history seems to indicate that it's only a matter of time before the question of whether or not to retain the name will be put before the registered voters living within the city limits. If/when approved, there will be a measure put before Congress to approve the new name as an alternate for the zip code of 95437. (Those who wish may then still use the old name for the town on their mail.) In the meantime, the debate goes on.