View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who joined the Donner party as they cleared the trail through the Wasatch?
(a) Charles Stanton
(b) Luis and Salvador
(c) Franklin Graves and his extended family
(d) Hastings

2. What was in the middle of the desert?
(a) A cabin
(b) A mountain
(c) A lake
(d) A huge cactus

3. What reputation did the 40 mile desert have?
(a) It was forgiving for a desert.
(b) It was more beautiful than other deserts.
(c) It was a graveyard for abandoned wagons.
(d) It was a death trap.

4. What did the men do to the wagon wheels after crossing the Platte?
(a) They re-greased and re-set them.
(b) They sanded them down.
(c) They completely dried them out.
(d) They added metal to them.

5. How did the Murphy clan and the Reeds and Donners get along?
(a) They were outrightly hostile to each other.
(b) They seemed wary of each other.
(c) They were constantly bickering.
(d) They were like a big family.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the families do in the evening?

2. How did Patrick Breen contribute to the fires at night?

3. What was James Reed's occupation?

4. What was the Caw tribe like?

5. Why did Bridger promote the shortcut?

Short Essay Questions

1. What type of obstacles did people on wagon trains frequently have to face?

2. How did the Reed wagons do on the journey?

3. What would they have to do in order to cross a river?

4. What happened with Edward Breen?

5. What did the Donner party find when they emerged from the Cutoff?

6. What did the note that Hastings left tell the travelers? Was his statement valid?

7. Why did some of the people in Springfield question James Reed's ideas?

8. How were tasks divvied up on the wagon train?

9. How did Charles Stanton helped the traveling party?

10. What happened to James Reed after he killed Snyder?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 649 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample