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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 was the Donner Party running low on?
(a) Ammunition
(b) Food
(c) Water
(d) Strength

2. What did the travelers use instead of firewood to keep their fires going?
(a) Coal
(b) Straw
(c) Buffalo dung
(d) Paraffin wax

3. What West Hastings' occupation?
(a) Doctor
(b) Lawyer
(c) Accountant
(d) Shopkeeper

4. What did the book they follow mostly consist of?
(a) Advice for travel
(b) Packing lists
(c) Propaganda
(d) Weather reports

5. What did the skilled explorers find about Hastings shortcut?
(a) It was fine if the travelers were experts.
(b) Traveling it with oxen would be suicide.
(c) It was tricky in areas.
(d) It was easier to travel than they had thought.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happened to Virginia's aunt according to her stories?

2. Why did Reed kill Snyder?

3. What did James Clyman tell the travelers?

4. How did Pike die?

5. What did Sutter do?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to the group as they reached near the summit of Sierra Nevada?

2. What was "The Emigrants Guide to Oregon and California" like?

3. How did the women feel about the decision, and how was their opinion factored in?

4. Why was Independence, Missouri so famous?

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

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

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

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

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

10. Describe what would eventually become known as the Pioneer Palace Car.

(see the answer keys)

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