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Gregg, Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Gregg, Josiah, 1806–50, American trader and historian of the Santa Fe Trail, b. Overton co., Tenn. He moved with his family to Illinois (1809) and then to Missouri (1812). He gained wide knowledge f...

Bean, Roy

(Encyclopedia)Bean, Roy, c.1825–1903, legendary American frontier judge, b. Mason co., Ky. He left Kentucky in 1847 to seek his fortune in California. Soon, however, he was managing a trading post in Chihuahua, M...

propagation of plants

(Encyclopedia)propagation of plants is effected in nature chiefly sexually by the seed and the spore, less often by rhizomes and other methods (see reproduction). Vegetative means include cutting, layering, graftin...

Durango, state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Durango do͞orängˈgō [key], state, 47,691 sq mi (123,520 sq km), N central Mexico. The city of ...

Quinn, Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Quinn, Anthony (Anthony Rudolph Oaxaca Quinn), 1915–2001, American actor, b. Chihuahua, Mex. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was four years old. Quinn had a number of jobs before turning to ...

Villa, Francisco

(Encyclopedia)Villa, Francisco fränsēsˈkō vēˈyä [key], c.1877–1923, Mexican revolutionary, nicknamed Pancho Villa. His real name was Doroteo Arango. When Villa came of age, he declared his freedom from the...

part of speech

(Encyclopedia)part of speech, in traditional English grammar, any one of about eight major classes of words, based on the parts of speech of ancient Greek and Latin. The parts of speech are noun, verb, adjective, a...

Canis Major

(Encyclopedia)Canis Major kāˈnĭs [key] [Lat.,=greater dog], constellation lying near the celestial equator, SE of Orion. Known as the Large Dog (Canis Minor is the Small Dog), it was associated with the figure o...

Bunker Hill, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Bunker Hill, battle of, in the American Revolution, June 17, 1775. Detachments of colonial militia under Artemas Ward, Nathanael Greene, John Stark, and Israel Putnam laid siege to Boston shortly afte...

Shropshire sheep

(Encyclopedia)Shropshire sheep, mutton breed developed from the native sheep of Shropshire and Staffordshire, England. As early as 1340 there was a grade of wool known as Shropshire, but the breed was not officiall...