Spencer Butte

Spencer Butte
Butte
Eugene and Spencer Butte from Skinner Butte
View of Eugene from Skinner Butte, with Spencer Butte in the distance
Spencer Butte is located in Spencer Butte and Eugene OR
Spencer Butte
Spencer Butte
Location within Spencer Butte and Eugene OR
Coordinates: 43°58′59″N 123°05′45″W / 43.9831°N 123.0957°W / 43.9831; -123.0957
LocationSouth of Eugene, Oregon, USA
RangeCascade Volcanoes[citation needed]
Part ofLittle Butte Volcanics
Ageapproximately 23 to 30 million years
Formed byIntrusion of lava through sandstone base, and subsequent erosion of sandstone
OrogenyPhanerozoic orogen
GeologyButte

Spencer Butte is a prominent landmark in Lane County, Oregon, United States, described in the National Geodetic Survey as "a prominent timbered butte with a bare rocky summit" on the southern edge of Eugene, with an elevation of 2,058 feet (627 m). Spencer Butte is accessible from Spencer Butte Park and has several hiking trails to the summit. The tree cover on the butte is predominantly Douglas fir; however, the butte is now treeless at its summit. The butte is the tallest point visible when looking south from downtown Eugene.

A lone Douglas Fir stood on the top of the Butte until February of 2021 when a vandal cut it down.

Name

View north across the summit

The butte is called Champ-a te or Cham-o-tee by the native Kalapuya, meaning rattlesnake.

One popular theory is that Spencer Butte was named for a young Englishman of the Hudson's Bay Company named Spencer, who was said to have been killed by the Kalapuya after climbing the hill alone. Another, less popular theory holds that the butte was named after Secretary of War John C. Spencer in July 1845 by Elijah White. Spencer was no longer Secretary of War by 1845, however. Spencer Butte was named after Eugene Skinner’s (the namesake of Eugene, OR) uncle, Spencer Fullerton Baird, who was a prominent American naturalist and the first curator of the Smithsonian Institution.

Geology

Spencer Butte is volcanic in origin, potentially being a volcanic plug.[citation needed]

See also

References

View of the southern Willamette Valley from the summit of Spencer Butte.
  1. 1 2 "Spencer Butte - NGS Data Sheet". U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  2. 1 2 Sullivan, William (2005). 100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades (3rd ed.). Eugene, Oregon: Navillus Press. pp. 176–177. ISBN 0-9677830-6-2.
  3. ↑ KVAL (February 15, 2021). "Tree on summit of Spencer Butte cut down in apparent act of vandalism". KVAL. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Spencer Butte Park History" (PDF). City of Eugene. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Indians, Surveyors, Incidents Gave Names to Streams, Lakes and Mountains". Eugene Register-Guard. January 4, 1942. p. 5. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  6. ↑ Spencer Butte Park - History - Spencer Baird, cited 12-May-2026.
  7. ↑ Wright, Craig. "Emerald Recommends the best albums of 2015". Emerald Media. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Facts About Spencer Butte : Eugene Oregon : Lane County". www.spencerbuttepark.com. Retrieved May 13, 2026.