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De Smet, Pierre Jean

(Encyclopedia)De Smet, Pierre Jean pyĕr zhäN də smĕtˈ [key], 1801–73, Jesuit missionary in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, b. Belgium. He emigrated to the United States in 1821, served his novitiate in Florissan...

Pan-Americanism

(Encyclopedia)Pan-Americanism, movement toward commercial, social, economic, military, and political cooperation among the nations of North, Central, and South America. In the early 20th cent., U.S. manipulation ...

Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, 5th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, 5th earl of, 1771–1820, Scottish philanthropist, founder of the Red River Settlement. Emigration to America seemed to him the best solution for the poverty of his countrymen...

dogwood

(Encyclopedia)dogwood or cornel kôrˈnəl [key], shrub or tree of the genus Cornus, chiefly of north temperate and tropical mountain regions, characteristically having an inconspicuous flower surrounded by large, ...

grizzly bear

(Encyclopedia)grizzly bear or grizzly, large, powerful North American brown bear, characterized by gray-streaked, or grizzled, fur. Grizzlies are 6 to 8 ft (180–250 cm) long, stand 31⁄2 to 4 ft (105–120 cm) a...

harbor seal

(Encyclopedia)harbor seal, most commonly seen seal of the Northern Hemisphere, Phoca vitulina. Harbor seals are found along coasts and in sheltered bays and harbors of North America, Europe, and NE Asia. They range...

Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence

(Encyclopedia)Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence mĕkˈlənbûrgˌ [key], resolution alleged to have been proclaimed at Charlotte, N.C., by the citizens of Mecklenburg co. on May 20, 1775. Although North Carol...

Presbyterianism

(Encyclopedia)Presbyterianism, form of Christian church organization based on administration by a hierarchy of courts composed of clerical and lay presbyters. Holding a position between episcopacy (government by bi...

Brasher, Rex

(Encyclopedia)Brasher, Rex brāˈshər [key], 1869–1960, American artist and naturalist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. St. Francis College, Brooklyn, 1884. A self-taught artist, he devoted his life to making life-size...

Vaillant, George Clapp

(Encyclopedia)Vaillant, George Clapp vălˈyănt [key], 1901–45, American archaeologist, b. Boston; grad. Harvard (B.A., 1922; Ph.D., 1927). At the American Museum of Natural History he became associate curator (...