called the Arkansas.
The Quapaw lived in rectangular, barkcovered
homes called longhouses. Longhouses
were big enough to house several
families. The Quapaw grew corn,
gourds, pumpkins, sunflowers, beans,
and squash. They also hunted such animals
as bison (buffalo) and gathered
nuts and berries.
In 1673 French explorers visited
Quapaw lands. The French and the
Quapaw became trading partners. But
the French also brought diseases, such
as smallpox and measles, that killed
many Quapaw.
American settlers soon arrived in the
area. In the early 1800s the U.S. government
got the Quapaw to give up their
Arkansas lands. The Quapaw went to
live among the Caddo Indians in Louisiana.
However, floods soon drove them
from their new home.
In 1833 the Quapaw moved to a reservation
in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).
In the 1920s some Quapaw
became wealthy because they were able
to mine and sell lead and zinc found on
reservation lands. At the end of the 20th
century there were about 1,000 Quapaw
living in the United States.
#More to explore
Kaw • Native Americans • Omaha
• Osage • Ponca
Quarrying
Mining is the removal of minerals from
Earth’s crust. Quarrying is the mining
of stone, or rock used mainly for
building. A quarry is a hole or a pit in
the ground from which workers remove
stone. During quarrying, workers cut or
blast stone into smaller pieces. These
smaller pieces of stone are easier to
handle and can be used to make many
things.
A Quapaw sash is decorated with colorful beads.
6 Quapaw BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Types of Quarried Stone
There are two basic types of quarried
stone: dimension stone and crushed
stone. Dimension stone is blocks or
slabs (big rectangles) of stone that have
been cut to a certain size. Granite and
limestone are popular types of dimension
stone. Crushed stone is much
smaller than dimension stone. It is stone
that has been broken into many small
pieces.
How Quarrying Is Done
Workers take stone from a quarry by
cutting, drilling, or blasting it. To get
dimension stone, they use machinery
that cuts or drills large pieces of stone
off the walls of the quarry. Each long,
heavy slab weighs thousands of pounds.
Workers cut the slabs into smaller blocks
before transporting them to the surface.
To get crushed stone, workers use explosives
to blast stone from the quarry’s
walls.
In ancient times people removed stone
from quarries without the help of modern
machines or explosives. For instance,
the ancient Egyptians used such tools as
picks, wedges, drills, and saws.
Uses of Quarried Stone
The ancient Egyptians quarried huge
blocks of stone to build pyramids. The
ancient Greeks and Romans created
many buildings and sculptures with
quarried stone, as did later peoples.
Today businesses all over the world use
quarried stone, and almost every country
has quarries. People still use dimension
stone to make buildings,
monuments, and sculptures. They use it
to build bridges, tunnels, and dams as
well. People use crushed stone mostly to
build roads and to make concrete.
#More to explore
Mining • Rock
A worker at a quarry cuts slabs of limestone
into smaller blocks.
Many different machines, including trucks
and cranes, are used in quarries.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Quarrying 7
Quebec
The province of Quebec is different
from the rest of Canada. The
language and traditions of most
of its people are French rather than
English. The name Quebec comes from
an Algonquian Indian word meaning
“where the river narrows.” It was first
used for the province’s capital, Quebec
city, which is located at a spot where the
Saint Lawrence River narrows.
Geography
Quebec is Canada’s largest province in
area. It borders Ontario and Hudson
Bay on the west. The Hudson Strait lies
to the north. To the east are the Gulf of
Saint Lawrence and the mainland part
of Newfoundland and Labrador. To the
south are New Brunswick and the U.S.
states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
and New York.
Most of Quebec’s people live in the lowlands
near the Saint Lawrence River and
in the region south of the river, which is
part of the Appalachian Mountains. The
Laurentian Mountains, north of the
lowlands, are the oldest mountain range
in the world. The rocky land north of
the Laurentians has many forests, lakes,
and rivers. In the far north, near Hudson
Bay and Hudson Strait, are barren
Arctic lands.
People
Most of Quebec’s people are of French
origin. More than 80 percent speak
French as their usual language. After the
French, people of British descent are the
most numerous. Other ethnic groups
include Irish, Italians, Haitians, Chinese,
Greeks, and American Indians.
Nearly half of Quebec’s people live in
Montreal or its suburbs. Located on an
island in the Saint Lawrence River,
Montreal is the second largest city in
Canada after Toronto.
Economy
Services and industry are the most
important parts of Quebec’s economy.
Most of the province’s workers are
employed in such services as tourism,
education, banking, real estate, and
sales. The next largest group works in
manufacturing. Factories in the province
produce food and drinks, aircraft and
other transportation equipment, electrical
