It is not known who gave Black Butte its modern name, though historical records show settlers calling the volcano by that name as early as 1855. Lieutenant H. L. Abbot, one of the engineers involved with the Pacific Railroad Surveys, referred to the volcano as Pivot Mountain in a diary entry published in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, though he also used the name Black Butte in the Pacific Railroad Surveys Reports. During his work for the surveys, Abbot scouted railroad routes in the area surrounding Black Butte, ultimately concluding that a railroad could not be built over the Cascade Range near Mount Jefferson.