Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) barbed wire, wire composed of two zinc-coated steel strands twisted together and having barbs spaced regularly along them. The need for barbed wire arose in the 19th cent. as the American frontier mov...

(Encyclopedia) raft, floating platform of wood, cork, or air-inflated rubber for conveying goods or people. Originally, several logs, bound together by vines, strips of animal skin, and later rope, formed a flat sur...

(Encyclopedia) Erzurum –zə– [key], city, capital of Erzurum prov., E Turkey. It is an agricultural trad...

(Encyclopedia) Avellaneda, Nicolás nēkōläsˈ ävāyänāˈᵺä [key], 1837–85, Argentine statesman, president of the republic (1874–80). As minister of justice, religion, and public instruction under Doming...

(Encyclopedia) McMaster, John Bach, 1852–1932, American historian, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Having practiced engineering in New York City and written two books, McMaster was appointed (1877) an instructor in civil engine...

(Encyclopedia) Maginot Line măzhˈĭnō, Fr. mäzhēnōˈ [key], system of fortifications along the eastern frontier of France, extending from the Swiss border to the Belgian. It was named for André Maginot, who w...

(Encyclopedia) L'Amour, Louis, 1908–88, American writer of western fiction, b. Jamestown, N.Dak., as Louis Dearborn LaMoore. He began writing in the 1940s, contributing stories to magazines under the name Tex Burn...

(Encyclopedia) Lyon, Matthew, 1750–1822, American political leader and pioneer, b. Co. Wicklow, Ireland. He emigrated to America in 1765, settling eventually in Vermont. During the American Revolution he served wi...

(Encyclopedia) Staunton stănˈtən [key], city (1990 pop. 24,461), seat of Augusta co., W central Va., in the Shenandoah Valley; settled 1732, inc. as a city 1871. It is a trade and industrial center in a fertile f...

(Encyclopedia) Chisholm Trail, route over which vast herds of cattle were driven from Texas to the railheads in Kansas after the Civil War. Its name is generally believed to come from Jesse Chisholm, a part-Cherokee...