Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

484 results found

Laclede, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Laclede, Pierre pyĕr läklĕdˈ [key], c.1724–1778, French pioneer in the United States. His surname was Liguest, but he adopted the name Pierre Laclede. He went to New Orleans in 1755 and was a me...

Rogers, James Harvey

(Encyclopedia)Rogers, James Harvey, 1886–1939, American economist, b. South Carolina, grad. Univ. of South Carolina (B.A., 1906) and Yale (B.A., 1909; Ph.D., 1916). He was professor of economics at the Univ. of M...

Bent, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Bent, Charles, 1799–1847, American frontiersman, b. St. Louis. He entered the fur trade of the Missouri River and became one of the mountain men. His interests turned to the Southwest, and he led ex...

Shapley, Harlow

(Encyclopedia)Shapley, Harlow shăpˈlē [key], 1885–1972, American astronomer, b. Nashville, Mo., grad. Univ. of Missouri, 1910, Ph.D. Princeton, 1913. He was astronomer at Mt. Wilson Observatory from 1914 to 19...

Pratt, Parley Parker

(Encyclopedia)Pratt, Parley Parker, 1807–57, Mormon apostle, b. Otsego co., N.Y.; brother of Orson Pratt. He joined (1830) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was made an apostle in 1835. In 1838,...

Saint Charles

(Encyclopedia)Saint Charles. 1 City (1990 pop. 22,501), Kane co., NE Ill., on the Fox River, a suburb of Chicago; inc. 1850. Located in an agricultural area (corn and soybeans), the city has food-processing, alumin...

Cerré, Jean Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)Cerré, Jean Gabriel zhäN gäbrēĕlˈ sĕrāˈ [key], 1734–1805, frontiersman and trader in the American Midwest, b. Montreal, Canada. By 1755 he had established a fur-trading post at Kaskaskia, I...

American Fur Company

(Encyclopedia)American Fur Company, chartered by John Jacob Astor (1763–1848) in 1808 to compete with the great fur-trading companies in Canada—the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company. Astor's most ...

mountain men

(Encyclopedia)mountain men, fur trappers and traders in the Rocky Mts. during the 1820s and 30s. Their activities opened that region of the United States to general knowledge. Since the days of French domination th...

Chivington, John Milton

(Encyclopedia)Chivington, John Milton, 1821–92, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Lebanon, Ohio. Ordained a Methodist minister (1844), he served in Missouri and Nebraska before moving to Denver as presi...