O'Neill Butte is a -elevation summit located in the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

, in

Coconino County Coconino County is a county in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff. The county takes its name from ''Cohonino'', a name applied to the Havasupai p ...

of northern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is situated east-northeast of

Grand Canyon Village Grand Canyon Village is a census-designated place (CDP) located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County, Arizona, United States. Its population was 2,004 at the 2010 Census. Located in Grand Canyon National Park, it is whol ...

, northeast of Mather Point, and one mile immediately northwest of Yaki Point. Cedar Ridge connects O'Neill Butte with Yaki Point on the South Rim. Topographic relief is significant as O'Neill Butte rises above the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

in . Access to this prominence is via the

South Kaibab Trail The South Kaibab Trail is a hiking trail in Grand Canyon National Park, located in the U.S. state of Arizona. Unlike the Bright Angel Trail which also begins at the south rim of the Grand Canyon and leads to the Colorado River, the South Kaibab ...

which traverses the east slope of the peak. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, O'Neill Butte is located in a

cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

zone.

Geology

The summit block of O'Neill Butte is composed of

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

Esplanade Sandstone The Lower Permian Esplanade Sandstone is a cliff-forming, resistant sandstone, dark red, geologic unit found in the Grand Canyon. The rock unit forms a resistant shelf in the west Grand Canyon, south side of the Colorado River, at the east of t ...

, which is the uppermost member of the

Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to: * A person or thing from Pennsylvania * Pennsylvanian (geology) The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesca ...

Supai Group The Supai Group is a slope-forming section of red bed deposits found in the Colorado Plateau. The group was laid down during the Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian. Cliff-forming interbeds of sandstone are noticeable throughout the group. The Su ...

. The rest of the Supai Group overlays Mississippian Redwall Limestone. The cliff-forming Redwall overlays the

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

Tonto Group The Tonto Group is a name for an assemblage of related sedimentary strata, collectively known by geologists as a ''Group'', that comprises the basal sequence Paleozoic strata exposed in the sides of the Grand Canyon. As currently defined, the T ...

, and below that Paleoproterozoic

Vishnu Basement Rocks The Vishnu Basement Rocks is the name recommended for all Early Proterozoic crystalline rocks (metamorphic and igneous) exposed in the Grand Canyon region. They form the crystalline basement rocks that underlie the Bass Limestone of the Unkar G ...

at river level in Granite Gorge. Precipitation

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

from O'Neill Butte drains north to the Colorado River via Pipe Creek (west aspect) and Cremation Creek (east).

History

This feature is named for William Owen "Buckey" O'Neill (1860–1898), an

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

politician, who died as a captain of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

's Rough Riders at the Battle of San Juan Hill. O'Neill did some prospecting in the Grand Canyon in 1890, and also figured prominently in bringing the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

to the canyon's South Rim.Randy Moore and Kara Felicia Witt, ''The Grand Canyon: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', 2018, ABC-CLIO Publisher, pp. 279–280. This landform's toponym was officially adopted in 1906 by the

U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

Gallery

File:Grand Canyon, O'Neill Butte.jpg, O'Neill Butte centered with Yaki Point upper right. From northwest. File:Grand Canyon 09 2017 5139.jpg, O'Neill Butte from Yavapai Point File:D3143 Grand Canyon Tonto Trail Scenic (4667241438).jpg, West aspect of O'Neill Butte (upper right) from

Tonto Trail The Tonto Trail is a hiking trail on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park, located in the U.S. state of Arizona. Access The Tonto Trail does not terminate at either rim of the Grand Canyon, but begins along the south ...

File:Grand Canyon 17 (15543616302).jpg File:O'Neill Butte in winter.jpg, O'Neill Butte from Mather Point in winter

References

External links

* Weather forecast
National Weather Service
* O'Neill Butte rock climbing
Mountainproject.com
* Climbing photos
Themtsarecalling.com
{{Geology of the Grand Canyon area, , state=collapsed Grand Canyon Grand Canyon, South Rim Landforms of Coconino County, Arizona Colorado Plateau Grand Canyon National Park North American 1000 m summits Buttes of Arizona Sandstone formations of the United States

Geology

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links