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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. How fast was the Donner Party moving along the Humboldt?
(a) 15 miles a day
(b) 2 miles a day
(c) 10 miles a day
(d) 20 miles a day

2. What was the Caw tribe like?
(a) They were wise and offered traveling advice.
(b) They were hostile.
(c) They were peaceful.
(d) They wondered what the travelers were doing.

3. Why did Reed kill Snyder?
(a) Snyder attacked his wife.
(b) He hated the man.
(c) Snyder was stealing from his family.
(d) It was an act of self-defense.

4. How old was Virginia Elizabeth Backenstoe Reed when the family left Illinois?
(a) Almost 18
(b) Almost 7
(c) Almost 25
(d) Almost 13

5. What disaster occurred while James Reed rode ahead?
(a) Their wagon train had been attacked, and the food was stolen.
(b) His daughter was stung by a scorpian.
(c) His wife was dead.
(d) 16 of his oxen stampeded into the desert.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the Donner Party running low on?

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

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

4. How did the Reed women feel about the trip?

5. What was the Hastings Cutoff trail like?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did Charles Stanton helped the traveling party?

3. What was crossing the desert like?

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

5. What happened to the oxen during the six days it took to get through the desert?

6. What happened with Edward Breen?

7. How did the Native American treat William Eddy?

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

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

10. Why did Virginia's father choose to take his family to California?

(see the answer keys)

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