Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

azalea

(Encyclopedia)azalea əzālˈyə [key] [Gr.,=dry], any species of the genus Rhododendron, North American and Asian shrubs of the family Ericaceae (heath family) that are distinguished by the usually deciduous leave...

Wappinger

(Encyclopedia)Wappinger wŏpˈĭnjər [key], confederation of Native North Americans of the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the early 17th cent. the...

Wilderness Road

(Encyclopedia)Wilderness Road, principal avenue of westward migration for U.S. pioneers from c.1790 to 1840, blazed in 1775 by the American frontiersman Daniel Boone and an advance party of the Transylvania Company...

Bentley, William

(Encyclopedia)Bentley, William, 1759–1819, American Unitarian clergyman, b. Boston. From 1783 until his death he was pastor of East Church, Salem, Mass. His Diary (4 vol., 1905–14), covering the years 1784–18...

Basket Makers

(Encyclopedia)Basket Makers, name given to the members of an early Native North American culture in the Southwest, predecessors of the Pueblo. Because of the cultural continuity from the Basket Makers to the Pueblo...

Saint Joseph, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Saint Joseph sānt jōˈzəf [key]. 1 City (1990 pop. 9,214), seat of Berrien co., SW Mich., a port on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the St. Joseph River across from Benton Harbor; inc. 1834. Located ...

Winnebago

(Encyclopedia)Winnebago, Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). When Father Jean Nicolet encountered them (1634), th...

Lea, Henry Charles

(Encyclopedia)Lea, Henry Charles lē [key], 1825–1909, U.S. historian, b. Philadelphia. He was associated with the family publishing business for many years, but his real interest was in historical work. Working ...

Petersburg

(Encyclopedia)Petersburg, city (1990 pop. 38,386), politically independent and in no county, SE Va., on the Appomattox River; inc. 1850. A port of entry and an important tobacco market, it has industries producing ...

Morganton

(Encyclopedia)Morganton, town (1990 pop. 15,085), seat of Burke co., W N.C., on the Catawba River in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mts.; founded 1784, inc. 1885. A lake resort town, it also has industries that ma...