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delta

(Encyclopedia)delta [from triangular shape of the Nile delta, like the Greek letter delta], a deposit of clay, silt, and sand formed at the mouth of a river where the stream loses velocity and drops part of its sed...

Delaware, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Delaware dĕlˈəwâr, –wər [key], English name given several closely related Native American groups of the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American langua...

Davis, Jefferson

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Jefferson, 1808–89, American statesman, President of the Southern Confederacy, b. Fairview, near Elkton, Ky. His birthday was June 3. Davis took little part in the secession movement until ...

Vardaman, James Kimble

(Encyclopedia)Vardaman, James Kimble, 1861–1930, U.S. political leader, b. near Edna, Jackson co., Tex. Admitted to the Mississippi bar in 1881, he practiced law and was a newspaper editor before entering politic...

Natchez, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Natchez, city (1990 pop. 19,460), seat of Adams co., SW Miss., on bluffs above the Mississippi River; settled 1716, inc. 1803. It is the trade, shipping, and processing center for a soybean, corn, cot...

Cairo, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Cairo kāˈrō, kâˈrō [key], city (2020 pop. 1,878), seat of Alexander co., extreme S Ill., on a ...

Kemper, Reuben

(Encyclopedia)Kemper, Reuben, d. 1827, American adventurer, b. Virginia. With his brothers Nathan and Samuel he settled c.1800 in Feliciana, just above Baton Rouge, in West Florida, then Spanish territory. Expelled...

Davenport

(Encyclopedia)Davenport, city (2020 pop. 101,724), seat of Scott co., E central Iowa, on the Mississippi River; inc. 1836. Bridges connect it with the Illinois cities...

Alton

(Encyclopedia)Alton ôlˈtən [key], city, Madison co., SW Ill., on bluffs of the Mississippi River 5 mi (8.1 km) above its confluence with the Missouri; inc. 1837. Alton is a shipping ...

Mitchell, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Mitchell, Mount, peak, 6,684 ft (2,037 m) high, W N.C., in the Black Mts. of the Appalachian system; highest peak E of the Mississippi River. ...