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PRAIRIE (adopted from the Fr. prairie...

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 250 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PRAIRIE (adopted from the Fr. prairie, a meadow-See also:tract. See also:Late See also:Lat. prataria, Lat. pratum, meadow)  , a level See also:tract of grassy and treeless See also:country, generally restricted to tracts so characterized in the central parts of See also:North See also:America . In the See also:United States the prairies may be taken to extend from See also:southern See also:Michigan and western See also:Ohio over See also:Illinois (especially designated the See also:Prairie See also:State), See also:Indiana, See also:Missouri, See also:Iowa, See also:Wisconsin and See also:Minnesota, and See also:west of the Missouri to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains (see articles on the several states, and UNITED STATES) . In See also:Canada they extend from the same mountains to a See also:line somewhat to the See also:east of See also:Winnipeg . The word prairie is used in a large number of compounds referring to natural and other features, See also:flora, See also:fauna, &c., characteristic of the prairies . Examples are: prairie-chicken or prairie-See also:hen, a name for the pinnated See also:grouse (Cupidonia or Tympanucus cupido), also applied to Pedioecetes phasinellus, the See also:sharp-tailed grouse; prairie-See also:dog, a rodent of the See also:squirrel See also:family, genus Cynomys, a gregarious burrowing See also:animal, and other animals noticed below; prairie-See also:schooner, a name for the covered wagons in which emigrants used to See also:cross the plains; prairie-grass, &c .

End of Article: PRAIRIE (adopted from the Fr. prairie, a meadow-tract. Late Lat. prataria, Lat. pratum, meadow)
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