The towering cinder cone of Black Butte
rises 3,200 feet above the valley floor and in many ways frames
the town of Sisters and Sisters Country. Mentioned by Peter
Scene Ogden in 1825, he used the meadows at the base to graze
his stock. Lt. Henry Abbot followed an Indian trail to the
base and he and Lt. Williamson referred to it as “Pivot Mountain” although
they later called it Black Butte. Once looked to as a sign
of fair traveling over the mountain passes, Black Butte has
become a popular destination for locals and visitors alike.
Estimated at about 1.5 million years old,
Black Butte escaped many of the ravages of local geologic events.
Because of its location, Black Butte escaped the glaciation
that carved deep pockets and valleys in the nearby Cascades.
Born of the Green Ridge fault, it escaped the violent movements
of the earth’s crust which
would have carried the eastern slopes downward and created a second summit. Rather,
for several hundred years a succession of basaltic lava flows welling up from
the Green Ridge fault, created layers of basalt, ash, and cinders, until the
cone reached its present shape. A corpse of that violent beginning—it
is now extinct.
The forces of weather, gravity, and visitors’ feet
slowly erode its surface. Erosion caused canyons show the forces
of weather and gravity. The largest, on the northwest slope,
extends from below the summit to the base where the outwash,
or alluvial fan, reaches to Highway 20.
Northern Paiute and Tenino peoples collected
roots, berries, and nuts on the slopes of Black Butte, likely
creating trails to the best gathering spots. Now roads encircle
the butte to about 2/3rds of the way up and a well traveled
trail above shows the forces of visitors—walking the
trail to see the natural history and historic fire lookouts
and experience the 360 degree vista of Central Oregon.
Black Butte continues to alert observant locals to changes
in weather and seasons. Large enough and isolated from nearby
peaks, the butte creates its own weather. It often shows the
first dusting of snow in the fall and the first signs of impending
storms when thick clouds envelope the peak. Summit trees and
buildings show the wear of fierce winds that funnel over the
butte, and the bolts of lightening that strike.
Because of the supreme view from the 6,500 foot top, Black
Butte begs to be a fire lookout. The first, erected in 1910 by
Harve Vincent, stood 18 feet off the ground, in two trees. The
sentinel hiked the 3,400 elevation, 4-mile trial. After a succession
of short-lived towers, in 1922 the existing small cabin with
cupola was built. The first summer of operation Mrs. Hazel McKinney
brought her 2 daughters and her dog with her when she became
the lookout. The CCC built in1934 an 84 foot tower which provided
a more complete view of the surrounding country. That tower was
deemed unsafe in 1990. The Forest Service completed the newest
tower, at 65 feet, in 1995.
Black Butte was a part of Camp Sherman. As Leslie Brown, long
time resident, wrote (The Nugget, December 8, 1993):
“As we grew older, the Camp Sherman
Community Hall came into being and hosted a Saturday night
square dance. The big thing was to dance all evening at the
community hall, go home, change clothes, pack a sandwich,
a chocolate bar and a canteen of water and then gather, a
large bunch of us, to await the witching hour of 2 a.m.,
when we would start up Black Butte (from near the Head of
the Metolius) to catch the dawn from the top.”
Hatton, R.R.
1996 Oregon’s Sisters Country: A Portrait
of Its Lands, Waters, and People. Maverick Publications:
Bend, OR
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