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Tso Tsung-t'ang
(Encyclopedia)Tso Tsung-t'ang dzô dzo͞ong-täng [key], 1812–85, Chinese general and statesman of the Ch'ing dynasty. He directed (1852–59) resistance to the Taiping Rebellion in his native Hunan and later org...Banat
(Encyclopedia)Banat bäˈnät [key], region extending across W Romania, NE Serbia, and S Hungary. The term banat originally referred to any of several frontier provinces of Hungary and Croatia that were ruled by ba...Hickok, Wild Bill
(Encyclopedia)Hickok, Wild Bill, 1837–76, American frontier marshal, b. Troy Grove, near Ottawa, Ill., as James Butler Hickok. He took part in the Kansas struggle preceding the Civil War, was a driver of the Butt...circuit rider
(Encyclopedia)circuit rider, itinerant preacher of the Methodist denomination who served a “circuit” consisting usually of 20 to 40 “appointments.” The circuit system, devised by John Wesley for his English...Calamity Jane
(Encyclopedia)Calamity Jane kəlămˈĭtē jānˈ [key], c.1852–1903, American frontier character, b. Princeton, Mo. Her real name was Martha Jane Canary, and the origin of her nickname is obscure. Little is know...log cabin
(Encyclopedia)log cabin or log house, style of home typical of the American pioneer on the Western frontier of the United States in the great westward expansion after 1765. It was constructed with few tools, usuall...blockhouse
(Encyclopedia)blockhouse, small fortification, usually temporary, serving as a post for a small garrison. Blockhouses seem to have come into use in the 15th cent. to prevent access to a strategically important obje...Bonneville, Benjamin Louis Eulalie de
(Encyclopedia)Bonneville, Benjamin Louis Eulalie de bŏnˈvĭl [key], 1796–1878, American army officer and trader who blazed portions of the Oregon Trail, b. France, grad. West Point, 1815. Acquainted with the fu...vigilantes
(Encyclopedia)vigilantes vĭjĭlănˈtēz [key], members of a vigilance committee. Such committees were formed in U.S. frontier communities to enforce law and order before a regularly constituted government could b...lumber
(Encyclopedia)lumber, term for timber that has been cut into boards for use as a building material. The major steps in producing lumber involve logging (the felling and preparation of timber for shipment to sawmill...Browse by Subject
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