O'Neill Butte facts for kids

Quick facts for kids O'Neill Butte
South aspect, from Cedar Ridge
Highest point
Elevation	6,071 ft (1,850 m)
Prominence	311 ft (95 m)
Isolation	4.17 mi (6.71 km)
Parent peak	Zoroaster Temple (7,123 ft)
Geography
O'Neill Butte Location in Arizona Show map of Arizona O'Neill Butte Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	Grand Canyon National Park Coconino County, Arizona, US
Parent range	Coconino Plateau Colorado Plateau
Topo map	USGS Phantom Ranch
Type of rock	limestone, shale, sandstone
Climbing
Easiest route	class 5.0 to 5.9 routes

O'Neill Butte is a 6,071-foot (1,850 m)-elevation summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, United States. It is situated 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east-northeast of Grand Canyon Village, one mile (1.6 km) 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 3,600 feet (1,100 m) above the Colorado River in two miles (3.2 km). Access to this prominence is via the South Kaibab Trail which traverses the east slope of the peak. According to the Köppen climate classification system, O'Neill Butte is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone.

History

This feature is named for William Owen "Buckey" O'Neill (1860–1898), an Arizona Territory politician, who died as a captain of Theodore Roosevelt'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 to the canyon's South Rim. This feature's name was officially adopted in 1906 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

Captain Buckey O'Neill

Geology

The summit block of O'Neill Butte is composed of Permian Esplanade Sandstone, which is the uppermost member of the Pennsylvanian-Permian Supai Group. The rest of the Supai Group overlays Mississippian Redwall Limestone. The cliff-forming Redwall overlays the Cambrian Tonto Group, and below that Paleoproterozoic Vishnu Basement Rocks at river level in Granite Gorge. Precipitation runoff from O'Neill Butte drains north to the Colorado River via Pipe Creek (west aspect) and Cremation Creek (east).

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