Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Big Sioux so͞o [key], river, 420 mi (676 km) long, rising in NE S.Dak. and flowing S into the Missouri River. It passes through an agricultural region that produces corn, oats, hogs, and beef cattle....

(Encyclopedia) Fort Snelling, on a bluff above the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, SE Minn.; est. 1820. It served as a regional protective barrier and as a nucleus for settlement. Minneapolis and S...

(Encyclopedia) badlands, area of severe erosion, usually found in semiarid climates and characterized by countless gullies, steep ridges, and sparse vegetation. Badland topography is formed on poorly cemented sedime...

(Encyclopedia) Black Hills, rugged mountains, c.6,000 sq mi (15,540 sq km), enclosed by the Belle Fourche and Cheyenne rivers, SW S.Dak. and NE Wyo., and rising c.2,500 ft (760 m) above the surrounding Great Plains;...

(Encyclopedia) British North America Act, law passed by the British Parliament in 1867 that provided for the unification of the Canadian provinces into the dominion of Canada. Until 1982 the act also functioned as t...

(Encyclopedia) Natives, North American, peoples who occupied North America before the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th cent. They have long been known as Indians because of the belief prevalent at the time of Co...

(Encyclopedia) Sibley, Henry Hastings, 1811–91, first governor of Minnesota, b. Detroit. After two years of law study, he was (1830–34) a clerk for the American Fur Company. He later became (1834) a partner and ...

(Encyclopedia) North Country National Scenic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table)national parks and monuments (table). ...

(Encyclopedia) North Cascades National Park, 504,781 acres (204,436 hectares), N Washington. Located in the Cascade Range, the park has outstanding alpine scenery, including high jagged peaks, glaciers, icefalls, ha...

(Encyclopedia) Jackson, Phil (Philip Douglas Jackson), 1945–, American basketball player and coach, b. Deer Lodge, Mont. Jackson was an All-American at the Univ. of North Dakota. Drafted by the New York Knicks in ...