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Indian pipe

(Encyclopedia)Indian pipe, common name for the genus Monotropa and for the family Monotropaceae, low flowering plants of north temperate zones. They are chlorophylless saprophytes with a funguslike appearance. Each...

Escalante, Silvestre Vélez de

(Encyclopedia)Escalante, Silvestre Vélez de sēlvāˈstrā vāˈlāth dā āskälänˈtā [key], fl. 1769–79, Spanish explorer in the American Southwest and Far West, a Franciscan missionary. He was in charge of...

Pacific Margin

(Encyclopedia)Pacific Margin, western section of the great North American Cordillera, W United States and W Canada, stretching from SW Alaska to S Calif. It is composed of a central lowland region (Central Valley, ...

Owens

(Encyclopedia)Owens, river, c.120 mi (190 km) long, rising in the Sierra Nevada, E Calif., SE of Yosemite National Park and flowing SE, to enter Owens Lake, near Mt. Whitney. Since 1913, at a point c.45 mi (70 km) ...

Tarahumara

(Encyclopedia)Tarahumara täräo͞omäˈrä [key], indigenous people of N Mexico, mostly in Chihuahua state. About 60,000 strong, they live for the most part in the barren wilderness of the Sierra Madre Occidental,...

Rif

(Encyclopedia)Rif rĭf [key] or Rif Atlas, range of the Atlas Mts., NE Morocco, NW Africa, curving along the Mediterranean coast from Ceuta to Melilla. Tidighin (8,056 ft/2,455 m) is the highest peak. Composed of s...

Jalisco

(Encyclopedia)Jalisco hälēˈskō [key], state (1990 pop. 5,302,689), 31,152 sq mi (80,684 sq km), W Mexico, bounded on the west by the Pacific. Guadalajara is the capital. Jalisco is dominated by the southern end...

medal

(Encyclopedia)medal, a piece of metal, cast or struck, often coin-shaped. The obverse and reverse bear bas-relief and inscription. Commemorative medals are issued in memory of a notable person or event. Civil and m...

Douro

(Encyclopedia)Douro Span. do͞oāˈrō [key], river, c.475 mi (765 km) long, rising in the Sierra de Urbión, N central Spain. It flows W across N Spain, then southwest to form part of the Spanish-Portuguese border...

Mulholland, William

(Encyclopedia)Mulholland, William, 1855–1935, American engineer, b. Belfast, Ireland. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1877, becoming a laborer for the local water company. Despite his lack of formal training, he eve...