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Alta California
Alta California , term used by the Spanish to refer to their possessions along the entire Pacific coast north of the Mexican state of Baja California. California was often represented on maps as an island some 3,000 mi (4,800 km) long until the 18th-century explorations of the Jesuit father Eusebio ...
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Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur , state (1990 pop. 317,764), 27,571 sq mi (71,428 sq km), NW Mexico, on the S Baja California peninsula. La Paz is the capital. Most of the area is lightly populated and has little arable land. Some cotton is grown commercially, and there is significant salt mining in the des...
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Baja California
Baja California , state (1990 pop. 1,660,855), 27,628 sq mi (71,576 sq km), NW Mexico, on the Baja California peninsula. Mexicali is the capital. A rapidly growing state, Baja California is a center of development for maquiladoras , foreign-owned assembly plants that produce finished goods for ...
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bristlecone pine
bristlecone pine common name for the pine species Pinus longaeva, found in the White Mountains of California. Specimens are known that are nearly 5,000 years old.
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Los Angeles
Los Angeles , city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. A port of entry on the Pacific coast, with a fine harbor at San Pedro Bay, it is the second largest U.S. city in population and one of the largest in area. Two mountain ranges, the Santa Monica and Verdugo, cut a...
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Walter Colton
Walter Colton , 1797-1851, American editor, writer, and clergyman, b. Rutland co., Vt. He became a naval chaplain in 1831. His books Ship and Shore (1835), A Visit to Constantinople and Athens (1836), and Deck and Port (1850) are based upon his naval experiences. In 1846 he was appointed chief...
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condor
condor common name for certain American vultures, found in the high peaks of the Andes of South America and the Coast Range of S California. Condors are the largest of the living birds, nearly 50 in. (125 cm) long with a wingspread of from 9 to 10 ft (274-300 cm). Voracious eaters, they prefer carr...
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Joaquín Murrieta
Joaquín Murrieta , 1829?-1853, California bandit, b. Mexico. From 1849 to 1851 he mined in the California gold fields. After he and members of his family had been mistreated by American miners and driven from their claim, he became the leader of a band of desperadoes. For two years his robber...
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Willard Frank Libby
Willard Frank Libby 1908-80, American chemist, b. Grand Valley, Colo., grad. Univ. of California (B.S., 1931; Ph.D., 1933). He taught (1933-45) at the Univ. of California and was a chemist (1941-45) in the war research division at Columbia. From 1945 to 1954 he was with the Univ. of Chicago and was...
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Bernard Maybeck
Bernard Maybeck 1862-1957, American architect, b. New York City. After studying at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, he became one of the leading architects in California. From the 1890s to the 1920s, Maybeck created warm and intimate houses of redwood and shingles. His mastery of larger spac...
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