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Strauss, Levi

(Encyclopedia)Strauss, Levi, 1829–1902, American merchant, b. Buttenheim, Germany, as Löb Strauss. He moved with his mother and sisters to New York City in 1847 to join his brothers' wholesale dry-goods company....

Eagle Pass

(Encyclopedia)Eagle Pass, city (2020 pop. 28,130), seat of Maverick co., W Tex., a port of entry on the Rio Grande opposite Piedras Negras, Mexico; inc. 1918. Linked ...

San Juan del Sur

(Encyclopedia)San Juan del Sur dĕl so͞or [key], town, SW Nicaragua, on the Pacific Ocean. It was the Pacific terminus of the transit route across the isthmus during the California gold rush and is today connected...

Golden Gate

(Encyclopedia)Golden Gate, strait, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 1 to 2 mi (1.6–3.2 km) wide, linking San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered in 1579 by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Known ...

Oglesby, Richard James

(Encyclopedia)Oglesby, Richard James ōˈgəlzbē [key], 1824–99, Union general in the American Civil War and Illinois political leader, b. Oldham co., Ky. He moved to Decatur, Ill., where he became a lawyer. Ogl...

Sutter, John Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Sutter, John Augustus, 1803–80, American pioneer, b. Kandern, Baden, of Swiss parents. His original name was Johann August Suter. He emigrated to the United States in 1834, went to St. Louis, then t...

Black Hills

(Encyclopedia)Black Hills, rugged mountains, c.6,000 sq mi (15,540 sq km), enclosed by the Belle Fourche and Cheyenne rivers, SW S.Dak. and NE Wyo., and rising c.2,500 ft (760 m) above the surrounding Great Plains;...

Iditarod

(Encyclopedia)Iditarod īdĭtˈərŏdˌ [key], abandoned town in SW Alaska, site of a 1908 gold rush, on the Iditarod River. The town site and river lie on the Iditarod National Historic Trail, 2,350 mi (3,781 km) ...

Sacramento, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Sacramento, longest river of Calif., c.380 mi (610 km) long, rising near Mt. Shasta, N Calif., and flowing generally SW to Suisun Bay, an arm of San Francisco Bay, where it forms a large delta with th...

Ketchikan

(Encyclopedia)Ketchikan kĕˈchĭkănˌ [key], city (1990 pop. 8,263), SE Alaska, a port of entry on Revillagigedo Island in the Alexander Archipelago. A supply point for miners in the gold rush of the 1890s, it ha...