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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who does the author refer to as “an egomaniacal small-time construction tycoon” in Chapter Four?
(a) Wayne Wyatt.
(b) W. A. Bechtel.
(c) James Marshall.
(d) Henry J. Kaiser.

2. According to the author in Chapter Three, regarding the Bureau of Reclamation, “The most auspicious event in its entire history was the election to the presidency in 1932 of a freewheeling, free-spending” what?
(a) Patrician.
(b) Democrat.
(c) Republican.
(d) Libertarian.

3. What from San Bernardino found their way to the 1884 World’s Fair in New Orleans, where they attracted crowds?
(a) Red Delicious apples.
(b) Valencia oranges.
(c) Himalayan blackberries.
(d) Bing cherries.

4. Who was to the man to “discover a malleable yellow rock in the tail race of Sutter’s Mill on the American River above Sacramento” in the 1800s,” according to the author in Chapter One?
(a) C.W. Hollister.
(b) James Marshall.
(c) Floyd Dominy.
(d) Emil Haury.

5. Harry Morrison and Morris Knudsen, two engineers formerly with the Bureau of Reclamation, went into business together where, according to the author in Chapter Four?
(a) Fargo, North Dakota.
(b) Miami, Florida.
(c) Boise, Idaho.
(d) Chicago, Illinois.

6. The first boom of travelers to Los Angeles culminated in what year, according to the author in Chapter Two?
(a) 1889.
(b) 1905.
(c) 1933.
(d) 1920.

7. What is the state capital of Utah?
(a) Salt Lake City.
(b) Provo.
(c) Moab.
(d) Ogden.

8. The author states in Chapter Two, “Brigham Young dispatched a party of his most loyal disciples, in 1851 to follow whose old route to the coast?
(a) C.W. Hollister’s.
(b) Henry J. Kaiser’s.
(c) Jedediah Smith’s.
(d) James Marshall’s.

9. When was Marriner Stoddard Eccles born?
(a) 1890.
(b) 1843.
(c) 1876.
(d) 1908.

10. What mountain range described in the Introduction stretches approximately 160 miles from the Utah-Idaho border, south through central Utah in the western United States?
(a) The Brooks Range.
(b) The Sierra Nevada.
(c) The Wasatch Range.
(d) The Cascade Range.

11. Which states are touched by the Colorado River?
(a) Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.
(b) New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado.
(c) Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California.
(d) Idaho, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.

12. What was the population of San Francisco in 1851?
(a) 35,000.
(b) 12,000.
(c) 48,000.
(d) 27,000.

13. What word used in the book’s Introduction means allowing the maximum passage of light, as glass?
(a) Irradiate.
(b) Reflective.
(c) Pellucid.
(d) Translucent.

14. What is the name given to the principal hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds which drain into the Pacific Ocean?
(a) The Rocky Mountains.
(b) The American Ridge.
(c) The Canadian Spur.
(d) The Continental Divide.

15. At what swank resort outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, did the negotiation of the Colorado River Compact take place?
(a) Thirty Palms Resort.
(b) Mesa Verde Lodge.
(c) Bishop’s Lodge.
(d) Desert Oasis Hotel and Spa.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who did Charles Rockwood convince to join forces with him in irrigation, according to the author in Chapter Four?

2. When was William Mulholland born?

3. Where was William Mulholland born?

4. When was the Bayano Dam built?

5. Which Texas historian wrote an article for Harper’s entitled “The American West, Perpetual Mirage”?

(see the answer keys)

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