Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Gall, Sioux war chief

(Encyclopedia)Gall gôl [key], c.1840–1894, war chief of the Sioux, b. South Dakota. He refused to accept the treaty of 1868 (by which he would have been confined to a reservation), joined Sitting Bull and other ...

Jones, David Charles

(Encyclopedia)Jones, David Charles, 1921–2013, American military officer, b. Aberdeen, S. Dak., studied Univ. of N Dakota and Minot State College. He joined the Army Air Corps at the outbreak of World War II, and...

Rapid City

(Encyclopedia)Rapid City, city (1990 pop. 54,523), seat of Pennington co., SW S.Dak., on Rapid Creek, in an irrigated farm region served by the Bureau of Reclamation's Rapid Valley project; founded 1876 after the d...

Hearst, George

(Encyclopedia)Hearst, George hûrst [key], 1820–91, American mining magnate, U.S. senator (1886–91), b. Franklin co., Mo. He went to California in 1850 and became a mining prospector and geologist. He successfu...

Cretaceous period

(Encyclopedia)Cretaceous period krĭtāˈshəs [key], third and last period of the Mesozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), lasting from approximately 144 to 65 millio...

granite

(Encyclopedia)granite, coarse-grained igneous rock of even texture and light color, composed chiefly of quartz and feldspars. It usually contains small quantities of mica or hornblende, and minor accessory minerals...

Daschle, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Daschle, Tom (Thomas Andrew Daschle) dăshˈəl [key], 1947–, U.S. senator from South Dakota (1987–2005), b. Aberdeen, S.Dak. A Democrat, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 197...

Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Pierre pēr [key], city (1990 pop. 12,906), state capital (since 1889) and seat of Hughes co., central S.Dak., on the east bank of the Missouri River, opposite Fort Pierre; inc. 1883. Its economy is c...

Walsh, Thomas James

(Encyclopedia)Walsh, Thomas James wôlsh [key], 1859–1933, American political leader, b. Two Rivers, Wis. A lawyer, he was Democratic Senator from Montana from 1913 until his death. Walsh helped write the Eightee...

White River

(Encyclopedia)White River. 1 River, c.690 mi (1,110 km) long, rising in the Boston Mts., NW Ark., and flowing first N into SW Missouri, then generally SE through NE Arkansas to the Mississippi River. Its chief trib...

Browse by Subject