Landscape Naming

Luke Morris
Aug 1, 2015
4 min read

The city name of Eugene has many historical ties. The history of Eugene started when Eugene Franklin Skinner and his wife Mary Cook Skinner decided to head north from California to Oregon country. They joined the party of Elijah Bristow who planned to explore the Willamette Valley. During the exploration Bristow found a place he thought was suitable for claim, while Skinner took a claim of land further downriver. He was then advised by the local Kalapuya Indian tribe to build in elevated area due to hazardous floods. With this advice, he built his first cabin on the hill known as Skinner Butte (which happens to be his last name) in the year 1946. All of the surrounding area around the butte was also referred to as Skinner Butte, so one could argue the city of Eugene’s first recognized name was Skinner Butte. Prior to Eugene’s arrival, Skinner Butte was known as Yapoah or Ya-po-ah by natives of the Kalapuya tribe (John), which could also be viewed as a prior name of the Eugene area. Apparently, Eugene (the person) didn’t like how Yapoah rolled off the tongue so he changed its name disregarding its history with the Kalapuya people. Today, many longtime Eugenians refer to Skinner’s Butte as its original name, but it is not widely known. His cabin shortly after inception became a general trading post and was authorized as a post office in 1950. The cabin was the first official acknowledgment of the community.

In 1851, Skinner and the local judge David Matteson Risdon laid out the town of Eugene City. From this time on the newly inhabited territory was referred to as Eugene City. His wife Mary cleverly suggested the name of Eugene City. During the winter of 1851-1852 floods plagued Eugene City and it was nicknamed “Skinner’s Mud Hole.” In response, the town was replatted on higher elevated ground to avoid future floods.

It wasn’t until 1888 that Eugene City was changed slightly to only being Eugene. The name Eugene happens to be the only municipality on Earth of that name listed in several world atlases (About). Since the cutting of “City” in “Eugene City” it has remained ever since. There doesn’t seem to be any significant reasoning why “Eugene City” was modified to “Eugene”. I am only guessing, but maybe they changed it to “Eugene” because they finally thought Eugene City was an established city and no longer needed the “City” attachment. It could have been for simplicity as well.

Another name of the city of Eugene that has been progressively receiving more popularity is the reference of “Track Town USA”. Eugene is also referred to as “Track Town USA” because of its enduring history of hosting track and field competitions. These historic events include NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, U.S. Olympic Trials, IAAF World Junior Championships, and many more notable events. The U of O’s top tier track and field team which includes one of the biggest track stars ever Steve Prefontaine is another contributor to the nickname. Lastly, Eugene wouldn’t be Track Town if it didn’t have a legendary field to compete on known as Hayward Field.

Overall, the story of the name of Eugene was derived by only one story. No one tried conquering Eugene Franklin Skinner ‘claimed territory so many of the historic landscape name in Eugene he or his wife named. The naming of Eugene seems rightfully so though because he was the first to invest his time and livelihood into the development of Eugene. Although, the Kalapuya Indian tribe explored the land and used many of its natural resources prior to Skinner they did not attempt to construct a settlement on the land, such as the cabin Skinner built. Therefore, I believe Eugene is rightfully named and is not decompressing anyone else’s story. I do believe Skinner should have incorporated “Yapoah” into the naming of Skinner Butte. I mean the Kalapuya Indian tribe attempted to advise him in establishing a settlement in a less vulnerable place to floods, but he didn’t listen entirely which is part of the reason the first settlement location failed and was moved to higher ground.

Another historical landscape that I would like to briefly discuss is Spencer’s Butte. Spencer's Butte is one of few eminent and well-known landmarks in Lane County. Located on the south side of Eugene it is a popular area for locals and tourists to hike the many trails that lead to the summit. Being such a prominent part of Eugene, I assumed the origins of its naming would be easy to learn. Interestingly enough, this is not the case. Spencer's Butte is a name that seems to have multiple possible backgrounds. Originally, it was said to be named by the native Kalupuya, being called Champ-a-tee. The name Champ-a-tee was found to mean 'rattlesnake' or 'Rattlesnake Mountain' in the Kalapuyian language. Although, rattlesnake sightings are not common in Eugene when they do occur it is often on Spencer’s Butte.

The mountain's name was changed in the 1800's, most commonly it's said that the name change happened in 1845. Supposedly, an Englishman who worked for Hudson Bay Company had migrated to the Willamette Valley as a fur trapper. Legend has it that the man, Spencer, had distanced from his people, and made the attempt to climb to the summit alone. Unfortunately for Spencer, he was murdered by the Kalapuyian's for invading their land. If this in fact the case, I am glad they changed to name to Spencer’s Butte.