1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
New Mexico
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New Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. It was admitted to the Union as the 47th state on January 6,1912 and it is usually considered one of the Mountain States. New Mexico is fifth by area, the 36th-most populous, inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before European exploration, New Mexico was colonized by the Spanish in 1598 Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. Later, it was part of independent Mexico before becoming a U. S. territory and eventually a U. S. state as a result of the Mexican–American War. Among U. S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics, the major Native American nations in the state are Navajo, Pueblo, and Apache peoples. The demography and culture of the state are shaped by these strong Hispanic and Native American influences and its scarlet and gold colors are taken from the royal standards of Spain, along with the ancient sun symbol of the Zia, a Pueblo-related tribe. New Mexico, or Nuevo México in Spanish, is incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the nation of Mexico. The name simply stuck, even though the area had no connection to Mexico or the Mexica Indian tribes, Mexico, formerly a part of New Spain, adopted its name centuries later in 1821, after winning independence from Spanish rule. New Mexico was a part of the independent Mexican Empire and Federal Republic of Mexico for 27 years,1821 through 1848, New Mexico and Mexico developed as neighboring Spanish-speaking communities under Spanish rule, with relatively independent histories. The states total area is 121,412 square miles, the eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and 2.2 miles west of 103° W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, the western border with Arizona runs along the 109°03 W longitude. The southwestern corner of the state is known as the Bootheel, the 37° N latitude parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together at the Four Corners in the corner of New Mexico. New Mexico, although a state, has very little water. Its surface water area is about 250 square miles, the New Mexican landscape ranges from wide, rose-colored deserts to broken mesas to high, snow-capped peaks. Despite New Mexicos arid image, heavily forested mountain wildernesses cover a significant portion of the state, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost part of the Rocky Mountains, run roughly north-south along the east side of the Rio Grande in the rugged, pastoral north. The most important of New Mexicos rivers are the Rio Grande, Pecos, Canadian, San Juan, the Rio Grande is tied for the fourth-longest river in the United States. Tourists visiting these sites bring significant money to the state, other areas of geographical and scenic interest include Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument and the Gila Wilderness in the southwest of the state
3.
Army National Guard
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The Army National Guard, in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is a militia force and a federal military reserve force of the United States. They are simultaneously part of two different organizations, the National Guard of the states, territories and the District of Columbia. The Army National Guard is divided into units stationed in each of the 50 states. Members or units of the Army National Guard may be ordered, temporarily or indefinitely, if mobilized for federal service, the member or unit becomes part of the Army National Guard of the United States, which is a reserve component of the United States Army. Individuals volunteering for active service may do so subject to the consent of their governors. Governors generally cannot veto involuntary activations of individuals or units for federal service, the President may also call up members and units of the Army National Guard, in its status as the militia of the several states, to repel invasion, suppress rebellion, or enforce federal laws. The Army National Guard of the United States is one of two organizations administered by the National Guard Bureau, the other being the Air National Guard of the United States. The Director of the Army National Guard is the head of the organization, Militia members were required to equip themselves, take part in regular training, and report to their units when called. This war resulted in hundreds of deaths, hundreds of Native Americans sold into slavery or scattered throughout North America, the militias of the Southern New England colonies fought Native Americans again in King Philips War from 1675 to 1676. This conflict led to the defeat of the Narragansets, further straining relationships between Native Americans and white Europeans, but enabling continued white settlement of New England. In addition, the colonists had little interest in paying the taxes to maintain permanent garrisons of British troops, the militias were also an early experiment in democracy, with company grade officers often elected by their men, and the higher officers appointed by colonial governors or legislatures. The colonies did not exert centralized control over the militias or coordinate their efforts, Training typically took place during musters each summer, with militia members reporting for inspection and undergoing several days of training in drill and ceremony. Militia members served throughout the Revolution, often near their homes, Militia units served in combat, as well as carrying out guard duty for prisoners, garrisoning of forts, and local patrols. On some occasions, militia members performed ineffectively, as at the Battle of Camden in North Carolina, on other occasions they performed capably, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, Battle of Bennington, Battles of Saratoga, and Battle of Cowpens. Perhaps the most important role played by the militia was off the battlefield, during the period of the Articles of Confederation, the weak federal government reduced the Continental Army to a handful of officers and soldiers. The Articles of Confederation required each state to maintain a militia, such consent was not forthcoming in an era when the population still harbored a distrust of a standing army, so Congress largely left the defense of the new nation to the state militias. During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Federalist delegates argued for a federal government. Federalists anticipated using the military to defend the country if it were attacked, anti-Federalists advocated limited federal government, and wanted continued state control over the militias
4.
Roswell, New Mexico
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Roswell is a city in New Mexico. It is the county seat of Chaves County in the quarter of the state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 48,411 and it is a center for irrigated farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also the home of New Mexico Military Institute, founded in 1891, bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located a few miles northeast of the city on the Pecos River. Bottomless Lakes State Park is located 12 miles east of Roswell on US380, the investigation and debris recovery was handled by the local Roswell Army Air Field. It also had many Hispanic people from Lincoln, New Mexico, john Chisum had his famous Jingle Bob Ranch about 5 miles from the center of Roswell, at South Spring Acres. At the time, it was the largest ranch in the United States, Smith, a businessman from Omaha, Nebraska, and his partner, Aaron Wilburn, constructed two adobe buildings in 1869 that began what is now Roswell. The two buildings became the general store, post office, and sleeping quarters for paying guests. In 1871, Smith filed a claim with the government for the land around the buildings. Smith was the son of Roswell Smith, a prominent lawyer in Lafayette, Indiana and he called the town Roswell, after his fathers first name. In 1877, Captain Joseph Calloway Lea and his family bought out Smith and Wilburns claim and became the owners of most of the land of Roswell, the town was relatively quiet during the Lincoln County War. A major aquifer was discovered when merchant Nathan Jaffa had a well drilled in his yard on Richardson Avenue in 1890, resulting in the areas first major growth. The growth continued when a railroad was built through town in 1893, during World War II, a prisoner-of-war camp was located in nearby Orchard Park. The German prisoners of war were used to do infrastructure work in Roswell. Some POWs used rocks of different sizes to create the outline of a cross among the stones covering the north bank. Later, the cross was covered with a thin layer of concrete. In the 1980s, a crew cleaning the river bed cleared off the concrete, the small park just south of the cross was then known as Iron Cross Park. On November 11,1996, the park was renamed POW/MIA Park, the park displays a piece of the Berlin Wall, presented to the city of Roswell by the German Air Force
5.
Deming, New Mexico
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Deming is a city in Luna County, New Mexico, United States, located 60 miles west of Las Cruces and thirty-three miles north of the Mexican border. The population was 14,855 according to the 2010 census, Deming is the county seat and principal community of Luna County. The city, founded in 1881 and incorporated in 1902, was an important port of entry on the US-Mexican border until the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, a nickname was given to the city at the time of its founding, New Chicago. It was expected that with the surge of railroad usage, that the city would grow drastically and resemble Chicago, Deming is named after Mary Ann Deming Crocker, wife of Charles Crocker, one of The Big Four of the railroad industry. The Silver Spike was driven here in 1881 to commemorate the meeting of the Southern Pacific with the Atchison and this was the second transcontinental railroad to be completed in the United States. There are numerous ancient Native American sites around Deming, the Mimbres and Casas Grandes cultures made pottery of remarkable quality, and the Deming area is rich in native pottery artifacts, as well as beads, stone implements, stone carvings, graves, etc. The artifacts have since then been deported to Mexico, where they are now on display at multiple museums, Deming is centered at 32°15′40″N 107°45′21″W, in the Basin and Range Province. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 9.3 square miles. The city is surrounded by land that appears flat, with wide rubble aprons around the nearby mountains, the Mimbres River floods the Deming area once a decade or so, in periods of unusually heavy rainfall in the Cookes Range and Black Range to the north. Deming and its area is underlain by an aquifer of good-quality water. The aquifer is recharged primarily by water from the mountains to the north. The water usually has a sulfur content. In the late 1960s, Select Western Lands Inc. ran full-page advertisements for land in Deming in The Saturday Evening Post, the ads proclaimed Your Own Ranchette Only $299, Only $5 a Month, for a half-acre. Up to 2 acres were offered, those for $1196, Deming is located within the Upper Chihuahuan Desert climate zone. The climate is dry, hot, and breezy, summer temperatures often exceed 100 °F, but the altitude and dry air sometimes make summer days more comfortable than one would expect given the high temperature. Most precipitation occurs as thunderstorms and showers during the July–September monsoon period, minor flooding sometimes occurs over large areas of flat ground. There are periods lasting from 5 to 20 years of relatively wet or dry years, springtime is often windy, and dust storms can be severe—occasionally lasting for days. Snow is likely to fall in winter, but usually melts in a day or two, temperatures in winter are sometimes below freezing at night, but winter days are generally mild and sunny
6.
Denver
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Denver, officially the City and County of Denver, is the capital and most populous municipality of the U. S. state of Colorado. Denver is in the South Platte River Valley on the edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown district is immediately east of the confluence of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River, Denver is nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile above sea level, making it the highest major city in the United States. The 105th meridian west of Greenwich, the reference for the Mountain Time Zone. Denver is ranked as a Beta- world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. With a 2015 estimated population of 682,545, Denver ranks as the 19th-most populous U. S. city, and with a 2. 8% increase in 2015, the city is also the fastest-growing major city in the United States. The 10-county Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated 2015 population of 2,814,330 and ranked as the 19th most populous U. S. metropolitan statistical area. The 12-city Denver-Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area had an estimated 2015 population of 3,418,876, which ranks as the 16th most populous U. S. metropolitan area. Denver is the most populous city of the 18-county Front Range Urban Corridor, Denver is the most populous city within a 500-mile radius and the second-most populous city in the Mountain West after Phoenix, Arizona. In 2016, Denver was named the best place to live in the USA by U. S. News & World Report and this was the first historical settlement in what was later to become the city of Denver. The site faded quickly, however, and by the summer of 1859 it was abandoned in favor of Auraria, Larimer named the townsite Denver City to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver. Larimer hoped the name would help make it the county seat of Arapaho County but, unbeknownst to him. The location was accessible to existing trails and was across the South Platte River from the site of seasonal encampments of the Cheyenne, the site of these first towns is now the site of Confluence Park near downtown Denver. Larimer, along with associates in the St. Charles City Land Company, sold parcels in the town to merchants and miners, Denver City was a frontier town, with an economy based on servicing local miners with gambling, saloons, livestock and goods trading. In the early years, land parcels were often traded for grubstakes or gambled away by miners in Auraria, in May 1859, Denver City residents donated 53 lots to the Leavenworth & Pikes Peak Express in order to secure the regions first overland wagon route. Offering daily service for passengers, mail, freight, and gold, in 1863, Western Union furthered Denvers dominance of the region by choosing the city for its regional terminus. The Colorado Territory was created on February 28,1861, Arapahoe County was formed on November 1,1861, Denver City served as the Arapahoe County Seat from 1861 until consolidation in 1902. In 1867, Denver City became the territorial capital, with its newfound importance, Denver City shortened its name to Denver
7.
Golden, Colorado
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Golden is the Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, founded during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush on 16 June 1859, the mining camp was originally named Golden City in honor of Thomas L. Golden. Golden City served as the capital of the provisional Territory of Jefferson from 1860 to 1861, in 1867, the territorial capital was moved about 12 miles east to Denver City. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 18,867 in 2010, the Colorado School of Mines, offering programs in engineering and science, is located in Golden. It is the birthplace of the Jolly Rancher, a candy bought out by the Hershey Foods Corporation, Buffalo Bill Cody is buried nearby on Lookout Mountain. Golden City was established on 16 June 1859 along Clear Creek west of Denver, important businessmen and prospectors such as William A. H. Loveland and George West were among the first to settle in Golden. By the end of 1860, Golden City had been elected the seat of Jefferson County and was capital of the provisional Jefferson Territory. Golden City was temporarily removed from the status of capital as a result of an act passed on 5 November 1861 by the territorial government. Colorado City, a town to the south of Denver became the new temporary territorial capital. This status was revoked, however, as on 4 August 1862. It was the period between 1862 and the early 1870s that a fierce railroad competition developed between Denver, ten miles to the east, and Golden. By the mid-1860s, Golden held only a status as territorial capital rather than serve as the legitimate source of territorial power. Loveland founded the Colorado Central Railroad on 9 February 1865 to do just this, with Golden beginning talk of creating a railroad, prominent Denver residents raced to do the same. If we defeat those bonds, all hope of a railroad for the two years is gone… Gentlemen of Denver, what will you do. The fate of city is in your own hands. ”The residents of Denver voted for the bonds. By 1869, the race to Cheyenne was becoming less and less of a race. Golden, having then sidetracked into servicing various close-by mountain communities, continued to fall behind the set by the Denver railroad. However, The Colorado Central Railroad connected directly with Cheyenne seven years later, in 1877, but by that point, during the 1870s, it became home to three institutions of higher education, the Colorado University Schools, of which the Colorado School of Mines remains today
8.
Puebloans
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The Pueblo peoples speak languages from several different groups and are also divided culturally by their kinship systems and agricultural practices, although all cultivate varieties of corn. In addition to differing kinship systems, the peoples have differing marriage practices and those who have a matrilineal system, in which children are considered born into the mothers clan and her line is used for inheritance and descent, are the Hopi, Keres, Towa and Zuni. The non-Towa Tanoan have a system, with clan membership, inheritance. All the Pueblo peoples have traditional economies based on agriculture and trade, at the time of Spanish encounter beginning in the 16th century, these peoples were living in complex, multi-story villages often built around a central courtyard. The Spanish called these pueblos, meaning towns, and applied the name to all the living in such complexes. In the 21st century there are 21 surviving pueblos in the Southwest of the United States, Taos, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are the best-known. The main pueblos are located primarily in the states of New Mexico. Anthropologists have studied these peoples extensively and published various classifications of their subdivisions, in 1950, Fred Russell Eggan contrasted the peoples of the Eastern and Western Pueblos, based largely on their subsistence farming techniques. The Western or Desert Pueblos of the Zuñi and Hopi specialize in dry farming, in 1954, Paul Kirchhoff published a division of the Pueblo peoples into two groups based on culture, one includes the Hopi, Zuni, Keres and Jemez. They each have matrilineal kinship systems, children are considered born into their mothers clan and must marry a spouse outside it and they maintain multiple kivas for sacred ceremonies. Their creation myth tells that humans emerged from the underground and they emphasize four or six cardinal directions as part of their sacred cosmology, beginning in the north. Four and seven are considered significant in their rituals and symbolism. In contrast, the Tanoan-speaking Pueblos have a kinship system. They practice endogamy, or marriage within the clan and they have two kivas or two groups of kivas in their pueblos. Their belief system is based in dualism, the creation story recounts the emergence of the people from underwater. They use five directions, beginning in the west and their ritual numbers are based on multiples of three. The Pueblo peoples speak languages from different language families, demonstrating their diverse ethnic origins. The Hopi language is Uto-Aztecan, Zuni is an isolate, and Keresan is a dialect continuum that includes Acoma, Laguna, Santa Ana, Zia, Cochiti, Santo Domingo
9.
Triskelion
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A triskelion or triskele is a motif consisting of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry. The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human legs, both terms are from Greek τρισκέλιον or τρισκελής, three-legged, from prefix τρι-, three times + σκέλος, leg. A triskelion is a symbol of Sicily, where it is called trinacria. It appears as an emblem on warriors shields depicted on Greek pottery. The triskelion is an ancient symbol of Sicily, with the head of the Gorgon, whose hair are snakes, the symbol dates back to when Sicily was part of Magna Graecia, the colonial extension of Greece beyond the Aegean. The Celtic symbol of three conjoined spirals may have had triple significance similar to the imagery that lies behind the triskelion, the triple spiral motif is a Neolithic symbol in Western Europe. Though popularly considered a Celtic symbol it is in fact a pre-Celtic symbol and it is carved into the rock of a stone lozenge near the main entrance of the prehistoric Newgrange monument in County Meath, Ireland. Newgrange, which was built around 3200 BC, predates the Celtic arrival in Ireland, the symbol is also found carved in rock in Castro Culture settlement in Galicia and Northern Portugal. Traditional Asian versions of the include the Japanese Mitsudomoe, the Tibetan Buddhist Gankyil. A triskelion is featured on the seal of the United States Department of Transportation, a triskelion shape is the basis for the roundel of the Irish Air Corps, and the logo for the Trisquel Linux distribution. A triskelion is used as a seal of Tau Gamma Phi fraternity, a member of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity is called Triskelion and Lady Triskelion for the Tau Gamma Sigma sorority member. The design was practical, the three curved arms providing equal spring and thus keeping the hole centred, the iconic design of the Spider has led to its adoption as a popular symbol for record and music enthusiasts. One of the most commonly used symbols of the BDSM community is a derivation of a triskelion shape within a circle, the crest of the Breton football club En Avant de Guingamp combines the Flag of Brittany, the team colours and the triple spiral triskelion. The triskele, usually consisting of spirals, but also the horned triskelion, is used by some polytheistic reconstructionist and neopagan groups. As a Celtic symbol, it is used primarily by groups with a Celtic cultural orientation and, less frequently, the spiral triskele is one of the primary symbols of Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism. Celtic Reconstructionists use the symbol to represent a variety of triplicities in their cosmology and theology, the endocytic protein, clathrin, is triskelion-shaped
10.
Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Santa Fe is the capital of the state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of Santa Fe County and this area was occupied for at least several hundred years by indigenous peoples who built villages. The city of Santa Fe, founded by Spanish colonists in 1610, is known as the oldest state capital city in the United States, Santa Fe had a population of 69,204 in 2012. It is the city of a Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Santa Fe County and is part of the larger Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area. The citys full name when founded was La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís, the area of Santa Fe was originally occupied by indigenous Tanoan peoples, who lived in numerous Pueblo villages along the Rio Grande. One of the earliest known settlements in what today is downtown Santa Fe came sometime after 900, the river had a year-round flow until the 1700s. By the 20th century the Santa Fe River was a seasonal waterway, as of 2007, the river was recognized as the most endangered river in the United States, according to the conservation group American Rivers. Don Juan de Oñate led the first European effort to colonize the region in 1598, under Juan de Oñate and his son, the capital of the province was the settlement of San Juan de los Caballeros north of Santa Fe near modern Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. In 1610, he designated it as the capital of the province, Santa Fe remained Spains provincial seat until the outbreak of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. It was considered important to fur traders based in present-day Saint Louis, when the area was still under Spanish rule, the Chouteau brothers of Saint Louis gained a monopoly on the fur trade, before the United States acquired Missouri under the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The fur trade contributed to the wealth of St. Louis, the citys status as the capital of the Mexican territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México was formalized in the 1824 Constitution after Mexico achieved independence from Spain. When the Republic of Texas seceded from Mexico in 1836, it claimed Santa Fe as part of the portion of Texas along the Rio Grande. In 1841, a military and trading expedition set out from Austin. Known as the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, the force was prepared and was easily captured by the Mexican army. In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico, brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny led the main body of his Army of the West of some 1,700 soldiers into Santa Fe to claim it and the whole New Mexico Territory for the United States. By 1848 the U. S. officially gained New Mexico through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, colonel Alexander William Doniphan, under the command of Kearny, recovered ammunition from Santa Fe labeled Spain 1776. This showed that New Mexico had received munitions and other support under Mexican rule, some American visitors at first saw little promise in the remote town. One traveller in 1849 wrote, I can hardly imagine how Santa Fe is supported, the country around it is barren
United States
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Institute of Heraldry website http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Heraldry/ArmyDUISSICOA/ArmyHeraldryUnit.aspx?u=.