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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. What would announce that the Fourth of July had arrived?
(a) Bugle blast.
(b) Rifle shots.
(c) Cannon blast.
(d) Church bells.

2. What was known to batter crops during the summer months?
(a) Hailstones.
(b) Bats.
(c) Locusts.
(d) Hurricanes.

3. What was Kansas known as prior to the middle of the 19th century?
(a) The Great American Desert.
(b) God's Country.
(c) The Middle of Nowhere.
(d) Halfway to Heaven.

4. What was a major occasion for social gatherings among prairie families?
(a) Christenings.
(b) Weddings.
(c) Cabin raisings.
(d) Funerals.

5. What was the most valued source of fuel on the prairie?
(a) Cow dung.
(b) Electricity.
(c) Gasoline.
(d) Oil.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year were Native American tribes first forcibly forced to move west of the Mississippi River?

2. What was the most-celebrated holiday among prairie families?

3. As a result of the new railroad as well as the Homestead Act of 1862, Native Americans were pushed into the state of _____________.

4. Which of the following did boy children do to help their fathers?

5. What was the nickname for sod blocks?

Short Essay Questions

1. Prior to the mid 19th century, as what was Kansas known and what happened in 1854 to change that?

2. Describe the devastation of "The Grasshopper Year" in 1874.

3. What behavior of the Native Americans would catch the homesteaders off guard in their homes?

4. When did the railroad become a viable method of transportation west?

5. What was the incident at Sand Creek and what resulted from it?

6. What were the sources of hostility between the Native Americans and the homesteaders?

7. Describe a typical picnic for the homesteaders.

8. Explain "water witching."

9. Describe how a winter storm was so incapacitating to prairie families.

10. What did pioneer children do to amuse themselves?

(see the answer keys)

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