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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) James Marshall.
(b) Floyd Dominy.
(c) C.W. Hollister.
(d) Emil Haury.

2. Who is quoted in the beginning of Chapter Four as stating, “Ours was the first and will doubtless be the last party of whites to visit this profitless locale”?
(a) Marriner Stoddard Eccles.
(b) Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza.
(c) Lieutenant Joseph Christmas Ives.
(d) Franklin D. Roosevelt.

3. How many major dams does the author say California has in the Introduction?
(a) 1,200.
(b) 240.
(c) 50.
(d) 560.

4. The Grand Coulee is an ancient riverbed in what U.S. state?
(a) Arizona.
(b) Montana.
(c) Colorado.
(d) Washington.

5. The author begins Chapter Three by stating, “When archaeologists from some other planet sift through the bleached bones of our civilization, they may well conclude that our temples were” what?
(a) Oceans.
(b) Dams.
(c) Deserts.
(d) Rivers.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was Franklin D. Roosevelt born?

2. Who does the author refer to as “horse-drawn Fresnoscraper kind of contractor” in Chapter Four?

3. What from San Bernardino found their way to the 1884 World’s Fair in New Orleans, where they attracted crowds?

4. The Sierra Nevada foothills are how many miles across the Central Valley from San Francisco?

5. What was the population of San Francisco in 1851?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was General John Wesley Powell? How does the author describe him?

2. What initially led to the struggles over the Colorado River?

3. Describe the author of the book. What relevant professional experience does Reisner have to ecology?

4. When was the Hoover Dam constructed? Where is it located?

5. How have new historians of the American West spent their focus differently than the traditionalists?

6. What impressions did the first Europeans to discover the American West have of the environment?

7. What does the author write of the impressions from the Lewis and Clark expedition in the West in Chapter Two?

8. When did the perception of the American West as a desert begin to change? Who helped initiate this change?

9. What publication does the author describe which was written by John Wesley Powell?

10. How did William Mulholland’s character and career develop in his later years?

(see the answer keys)

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