(pronounced bute). See quot. 1846.
1838. Encamped towards night at a place called the Red Bute, which is a high bluff of land, of the color of red ochre, but composed of clay somewhat indurated.—Samuel Parker, ‘Tour,’ p. 70 (N.E.D.).
1846. Far in front, rising solitary from the face of the plain, are elevated buttes, of singular configuration. The plain appears at some geological era to have been submerged, with the exception of these buttes, which were islands, overlooking the vast expanse of water.—E. Bryant, ‘What I saw in California,’ p. 134 (N.Y.). (Italics in the original.)
1878. In about four minutes you couldn’t a told that stranger’s face from a map o’ this territory, it was so full of red buttes and black deserts.—J. H. Beadle, ‘Western Wilds,’ p. 185.
1878. The butte is nearly two miles long and a mile wide, rising evenly from the plain on every side.—Id., p. 244.
