Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Eastern Woodlands culture

(Encyclopedia)Eastern Woodlands culture, term used to refer to Native American societies inhabiting the eastern United States. The earliest Woodland groups were the Adena and Hopewell, who lived in the Ohio and Mis...

showboat

(Encyclopedia)showboat. In the early 19th cent. entertainment was brought by boat to the pioneers that settled along the western rivers (especially the Mississippi and Ohio) of the United States. At first companies...

Red River, rivers, United States and Canada

(Encyclopedia)Red River. 1 River, 1,222 mi (1,967 km) long, southernmost of the large tributaries of the Mississippi River. It rises in two branches in the Texas Panhandle and flows SE between Texas and Oklahoma an...

Montpelier, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Montpelier mŏntpēlˈyər [key], city (1990 pop. 8,247), state capital (since 1805) and seat of Washington co., central Vt., at the junction of the Winooski and North Branch rivers; inc. 1855. The ec...

Reelfoot Lake

(Encyclopedia)Reelfoot Lake, 20 mi (32 km) long, NW Tenn., near the Mississippi River; designated a national natural landmark by the National Park Service. It was formed when a depression created by earthquakes in ...

Louisiana Purchase

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Louisiana Purchase (1803) Louisiana Purchase, 1803, American acquisition from France of the formerly Spanish region of Louisiana. Jefferson instructed Livingston to attempt to purchase the ...

Shan State

(Encyclopedia)Shan State shän [key], state (1983 pop. 3,718,706), c.60,000 sq mi (155,400 sq km), E central Myanmar. Taunggyi, the capital, and Lashio are its principal cities. It borders on China in the north, La...

fall line

(Encyclopedia)fall line, boundary between an upland region and a coastal plain across which rivers from the upland region drop to the plain as falls or rapids. A fall line is formed in an area where the rivers have...

flood, in hydrology

(Encyclopedia)flood, inundation of land by the rise and overflow of a body of water. Floods occur most commonly when water from heavy rainfall, from melting ice and snow, or from a combination of these exceeds the ...
 

Browse by Subject