# Spencer Butte

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Spencer_Butte
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Spencer_Butte.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Butte
> Source revision: 1355254309
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Spencer Butte** is a prominent landmark in [Lane County, Oregon](/source/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](/source/Eugene,_Oregon), with an elevation of 2,058 feet (627 m).[1] Spencer Butte is accessible from Spencer Butte Park and has several hiking trails to the summit.[2] The tree cover on the butte is predominantly [Douglas fir](/source/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](/source/Vandalism) cut it down.[3]

## Name

The [butte](/source/Butte) is called **Champ-a te** or **Cham-o-tee** by the native [Kalapuya](/source/Kalapuya_people), meaning [rattlesnake](/source/Rattlesnake).[4]

One popular theory is that Spencer Butte was named for a young Englishman of the [Hudson's Bay Company](/source/Hudson's_Bay_Company) named Spencer, who was said to have been killed by the Kalapuya after climbing the hill alone.[5] Another, less popular theory holds that the butte was named after [Secretary of War](/source/United_States_Secretary_of_War) [John C. Spencer](/source/John_Canfield_Spencer) in July 1845 by [Elijah White](/source/Elijah_White).[2][4] Spencer was no longer Secretary of War by 1845, however. Spencer Butte was named after [Eugene Skinner](/source/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.[6]

## In popular culture

- The song "All Of Me Wants All You" by [Sufjan Stevens](/source/Sufjan_Stevens) mentions Spencer Butte twice; the song is from the album [Carrie & Lowell](/source/Carrie_%26_Lowell), which also includes a song titled "Eugene" after the city, and makes many other references to places in Oregon.[7]

## Geology

Spencer Butte is [volcanic](/source/Volcanic) in origin,[8] potentially being a [volcanic plug](/source/Volcanic_plug).[citation needed]

## See also

- [Gillespie Butte](/source/Gillespie_Butte)
- [Skinner Butte](/source/Skinner_Butte)

## References

1. ["Spencer Butte - NGS Data Sheet"](https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=PC0920). U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved January 20, 2013.

1. Sullivan, William (2005). *100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades*. 3rd ed. [Eugene, Oregon](/source/Eugene,_Oregon): Navillus Press. pp. 176–177. ISBN 0-9677830-6-2.

1. KVAL (2021-02-15). ["Tree on summit of Spencer Butte cut down in apparent act of vandalism"](https://kval.com/news/local/tree-on-summit-of-spencer-butte-cut-down-in-apparent-act-of-vandalism). *KVAL*. Retrieved 2026-05-13.

1. ["Spencer Butte Park History"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110721040013/http://www.eugene-or.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_144752_0_0_18/Spen_history.pdf). *City of Eugene*. Archived from [the original](http://www.eugene-or.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_144752_0_0_18/Spen_history.pdf) on July 21, 2011. Retrieved 2008-05-05.

1. ["Indians, Surveyors, Incidents Gave Names to Streams, Lakes and Mountains"](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19420104&id=v81YAAAAIBAJ&sjid=negDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6678,4684615&hl=en). *[Eugene Register-Guard](/source/Eugene_Register-Guard)*. 4 January 1942. p. 5. Retrieved 23 April 2015.

1. [Spencer Butte Park - History - Spencer Baird](https://www.spencerbuttepark.com/history/spencer-fullerton-baird/), cited 12-May-2026.

1. Wright, Craig. ["Emerald Recommends the best albums of 2015"](https://www.dailyemerald.com/2016/01/07/the-best-albums-of-2015/). *Emerald Media*. Retrieved April 15, 2016.

1. ["Facts About Spencer Butte : Eugene Oregon : Lane County"](https://www.spencerbuttepark.com/facts/). *www.spencerbuttepark.com*. Retrieved 2026-05-13.

## External links

- [Official website](http://www.spencersbutte.com)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Spencer Butte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Butte) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Butte?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.