The origins of our current name for this prominent local geographical feature are uncertain. The most common theory is that it was named after a Hudson Bay Company member, a young Englishman named Spencer. Some of the earliest recorded Europeans to visit the Willamette Valley were associated with the Hudson Bay Company, fur trappers who came to the west to make their fortunes in the early 1800's. Evidently, Spencer left his party to climb the Butte alone and was killed by Indians. Another less popular theory is that the butte was named in 1845 as a compliment to John C. Spencer, the then Secretary of War, by Dr. Elijah White who was looking for an emigrant road to the eastern states.
By the 1850's a few settlers had established themselves near the Butte and in the direction of Camas Swale. A road was surveyed and built in the 1850's or 1860's, for the convenience of these settlers. This early wagon road is now Willamette Street. A post office was established July 14, 1853, with Milton S. Riggs as postmaster. The post office was discontinued April 2, 1855.
Dr. Charles Church, who was prominent in the steamboat business on both the Willamette and Columbia Rivers around 1870, owned the Butte. Dr. Church's daughter Lizzie, married a Dr. Ida Giese from Portland and they fell heir to the property.
On January 22, 1937, at the Eugene Park Commission meeting a committee was formed to make a detailed investigation into the possible purchase of Spencer Butte for the Park System. F. M. Wilkins, a former mayor of Eugene, a pioneer businessman of the city, and ninety years old, was the president of the commission at the time (an article found in the Spencer Butte file from the June 1980 issue The Countryman, gives history on Jasper Wilkins; how he relates is unclear).
The committee reported that 240 acres of the Butte property was owned by Lizzie Church and Ida Giese, while 40 acres on the west side was the estate of Alice M. Morse. The committee was prepared to act upon purchasing the property if a reasonable price (not to exceed $3,500) could be reached. Paul Giese, acting as agent for the Church-Giese acreage, was offering the property at $30 an acre. The park commission decided that for a down payment of $1,100, and the balance of $6,200 on very easy terms, the property could be secured. An attempt to raise the money through a bank loan was unsuccessful, so the committee decided to hold a dinner meeting in January of 1938. Representatives of outdoor interest groups were invited to get them familiar with the park system needs and of the urgent need of acquiring Spencer Butte. By the time this meeting was held, Giese was requiring the down payment of $1,100 within thirty days. It seems that there was another offer from a competing private party, who wanted to clear the trees and use the Butte to pasture goats. Robert Morse, who was acting as the representative for the Morse estate, had offered it at $1,100, with no down payment, and agreed to keep this option open until June. This allowed the Commission to totally concentrate on the Giese transaction.
Much of this informtion was taken from an essay written by W. Patrick Workman, entitled Spencer Butte Park. Last update: 9/12/03