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tall tale

(Encyclopedia) tall tale, extravagantly and humorously exaggerated story of the backwoods exploits of an American frontiersman. Originating in the 1820s, the genre remained popular well into the 20th…

Harold Harefoot

(Encyclopedia) Harold Harefoot, d. 1040, king of the English (1037–40), illegitimate son of Canute and Ælfgifu of Northampton. On his father's death (1035) he disputed the succession of his half-…

Bacon, Sir Nicholas

(Encyclopedia) Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 1509–79, English jurist. Called to the bar in 1533, he was made attorney of the court of wards and liveries in 1546 and, although a staunch Protestant, held this…

De Soto, Hernando

(Encyclopedia) De Soto, HernandoDe Soto, Hernandodĭsōˈtō, Span. ĕrnänˈdō dā sōˈtō [key], c.1500–1542, Spanish explorer. After serving under Pedro Arias de Ávila in Central America and under Francisco…

Muscatine

(Encyclopedia) MuscatineMuscatinemŭskətēnˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 22,881), seat of Muscatine co., SE Iowa, on the Mississippi River; inc. 1851. An early center of river traffic and lumbering,…

Iowa, river, United States

(Encyclopedia) Iowa, river, 329 mi (529 km) long, rising in the lakes of N Iowa and flowing SE to the Mississippi River, SE Iowa; Cedar River (300 mi/483 km long) is its chief tributary. A power dam…

Des Moines, river, United States

(Encyclopedia) Des Moines, river, 535 mi (861 km) long, rising in SW Minn. and flowing SE across Iowa to the Mississippi River at Keokuk, SE Iowa. Flowing through fertile farmland, the river floods…

Indian Removal Act

(Encyclopedia) Indian Removal Act, in U.S. history, law signed by President Andrew Jackson in 1830 providing for the general resettlement of Native Americans to lands W of the Mississippi River. From…

Anoka

(Encyclopedia) Anoka Anoka ənōˈkə [key], city (2020 pop. 17,593), seat of Anoka co., E Minn., on the Mississippi at the confluence of the Rum; inc. 1878. Originally a…

Sikeston

(Encyclopedia) SikestonSikestonsīksˈtən [key], city (1990 pop. 17,641), New Madrid and Scott counties, SE Mo., in the Mississippi plain; inc. 1874. It is the shipping, marketing, and processing…