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Rice Lake (Dodge County, Minnesota)
Rice Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, just east of Owatonna. Park lands entirely surround Rice Lake, an important stopping point for migrating waterfowl. The lake covers with an average depth of . Natural history The park's bedrock is limestone laid down 500 million years ago as organic sediments settled to the bottom of a shallow sea that covered much of the Midwest. This limestone is entirely covered by glacial till deposited during a Pre-Illinoian glaciation about 400,000 years ago. As those glaciers were retreating, a block of ice broke off and remained embedded in the till. The ice melted, forming a kettle which became Rice Lake. 10,000 years ago the more recent Wisconsin glaciation missed Rice Lake, passing to the west of the park. Meltwater from that glacier eroded streambeds into the Kansan till. Rice Lake is the headwaters of the South Branch, Middle Fork of the Zumbro River. This east flowing stream was the lake's original o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geographic Names Information System
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau. It is a type of gazetteer. It was developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to promote the standardization of feature names. Data were collected in two phases. Although a third phase was considered, which would have handled name changes where local usages differed from maps, it was never begun. The database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the feature or place name are cited. Variant names, alternatives to official federal names for a feature, are also recorded. Each feature receives a per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snow Goose
The snow goose (''Anser caerulescens'') is a species of goose native to North America. Both white and dark morphs exist, the latter often known as blue goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The species was previously placed in the genus ''Chen'', but is now typically included in the "gray goose" genus ''Anser''. Snow geese breed north of the timberline in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and the northeastern tip of Siberia, and spend winters in warm parts of North America from southwestern British Columbia through parts of the United States to Mexico. Snow goose populations increased dramatically in the 20th century. Taxonomy In 1750 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the snow goose in the third volume of his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. He used the English name "The blue-winged goose". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a preserved specimen that had been brought to London from the Hudson Bay a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rice Lake (ghost Town), Minnesota
Rice Lake is a ghost town in Dodge and Steele counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located east of Owatonna, and just north of Rice Lake State Park. The nearest community is the city of Claremont, to the southeast. The Dodge County portion lies in the southwest corner of Ellington Township, while the Steele County portion lies in the southeast corner of Merton Township. Havana Township and Claremont Township are also in the immediate area. History Rice Lake was officially platted in 1857, although it started thriving two years before then. Stephen L. Wilson opened the first store, and became postmaster in 1857. After that, a number of businesses continued to develop until 1865, when a railroad bypassed the settlement, causing the village to disappear. All that remains from the village of Rice Lake is a Carpenter Gothic Methodist church built in 1857 and a small cemetery in the northeast corner of the state park. See also *Rice Lake State Park Rice Lake S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treaty Of Mendota
The Treaty of Mendota was signed in Mendota, Minnesota on August 5, 1851 between the United States federal government and the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota people of Minnesota. The agreement was signed near Pilot Knob on the south bank of the Minnesota River and within sight of Fort Snelling. The treaty stipulated that the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands were to receive US$1,410,000 in return for relocating to the Lower Sioux Agency on the Minnesota River near present-day Morton, Minnesota along with giving up their rights to a significant portion of southern Minnesota. With the signing of the Treaty of Mendota along with the earlier Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, most of southern Minnesota became open to white settlement.Map of ceded territory can be seen through the Library of Congress here in orange Treaty (names are presented here in original forms as written and spelled by Americans in the treaty itself) ARTICLE 1. The peace and friendship existing between the United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Native Americans In The United States
Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States ( Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United States are generally known by other terms). There are 574 federally recognized tribes living within the US, about half of which are associated with Indian reservations. As defined by the United States Census, "Native Americans" are Indigenous tribes that are originally from the contiguous United States, along with Alaska Natives. Indigenous peoples of the United States who are not listed as American Indian or Alaska Native include Native Hawaiians, Samoan Americans, and the Chamorro people. The US Census groups these peoples as " Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders". European colonization of the Americas, which began in 1492, resulted in a precipitous decline in Native American population because of new diseases, wars, ethni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wild Rice
Wild rice, also called manoomin, Canada rice, Indian rice, or water oats, is any of four species of grasses that form the genus ''Zizania'', and the grain that can be harvested from them. The grain was historically gathered and eaten in both North America and China, but eaten less in China, where the plant's stem is used as a vegetable. Wild rice is not directly related to domesticated rice (''Oryza sativa'' and ''Oryza glaberrima''), although they are close cousins, all belonging to the tribe Oryzeae. Wild-rice grains have a chewy outer sheath with a tender inner grain that has a slightly vegetal taste. The plants grow in shallow water in small lakes and slow-flowing streams; often, only the flowering head of wild rice rises above the water. The grain is eaten by dabbling ducks and other aquatic wildlife. Species Three species of wild rice are native to North America: * Northern wild rice (''Zizania palustris'') is an annual plant native to the Great Lakes region of Nor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire(bushfires in Australia, in Australia), desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, peat fire, prairie fire, vegetation fire, or veld fire. Fire ecology, Some natural forest ecosystems depend on wildfire. Wildfires are distinct from beneficial human usage of wildland fire, called controlled burn, controlled burning, although controlled burns can turn into wildfires. Fossil charcoal indicates that wildfires began soon after the appearance of terrestrial plants approximately 419 million years ago during the Silurian period. Earth's carbon-rich vegetation, seasonally dry climates, atmospheric oxygen, and widespread lightning and volcanic ignitions create favorable conditions for fires. The occurre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oak Savanna
An oak savanna is a type of savanna—or lightly forested grassland—where oaks (''Quercus ''spp.) are the dominant trees. The terms "oakery" or "woodlands" are also used commonly, though the former is more prevalent when referencing the Mediterranean area. These savannas were maintained historically through wildfires set by lightning, humans, grazing, low precipitation, and/or poor soil. Although there are pockets of oak savanna almost anywhere in North America where oaks are present, there are three major oak savanna areas: 1) California, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon in the west; 2) Southwestern United States and northern Mexico; and 3) the prairie/forest border of the Midwestern United States. There are also small areas of oak savannas in other parts of the world. (See also Eastern savannas of the United States for information on pine savannas of the U.S. South.) Midwestern oak savannas The oak savannas of the Midwestern United States form a transition zone betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basswood
''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to Cherry County, Nebraska. It is the sole representative of its genus in the Western Hemisphere, assuming ''T. caroliniana'' is treated as a subspecies or local ecotype of ''T. americana''. Common names include American basswood and American linden. Description The American basswood is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree reaching a height of exceptionally with a trunk diameter of at maturity. It grows faster than many North American hardwoods, often twice the annual growth rate of American beech and many birch species. Life expectancy is around 200 years, with flowering and seeding generally occurring between 15 and 100 years, though occasionally seed production may start as early as eight years. The crown is domed, the branches ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/. There are approximately 132 species, most of which are native to Asia, with a number also appearing in Europe, northern Africa, and North America. Only one species, ''Acer laurinum'', extends to the Southern Hemisphere.Gibbs, D. & Chen, Y. (2009The Red List of Maples Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) The type species of the genus is the sycamore maple, '' Acer pseudoplatanus'', the most common maple species in Europe.van Gelderen, C. J. & van Gelderen, D. M. (1999). ''Maples for Gardens: A Color Encyclopedia'' Maples usually have easily recognizable palmate leaves ('' Acer negundo'' is an exception) and distinctive winged fruits. The closest relatives of the maples are the horse c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Tern
The black tern (''Chlidonias niger'') is a small tern generally found in or near inland water in Europe, Western Asia and North America. As its name suggests, it has predominantly dark plumage. In some lights it can appear blue in the breeding season, hence the old English name "blue darr". The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''khelidonios'', "swallow-like", from ''khelidon'', "swallow": another old English name for the black tern is "carr (i.e. lake) swallow". The species name is from Latin ''niger'' "shining black". Description Adults are long, with a wingspan , and weigh . They have short dark legs and a short, weak-looking black bill, measuring , nearly as long as the head. The bill is long, slender, and looks slightly decurved. They have a dark grey back, with a white forewing, black head, neck (occasionally suffused with grey in the adult) and belly, black or blackish-brown cap (which unites in color with the ear coverts, forming an almost complete hood), and a light ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
