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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 Reed going on to do?
(a) Get food for the travelers
(b) Find Hastings
(c) He was racing ahead to bring back help.
(d) Negotiate with the Indians

2. What was Sutter's fort like?
(a) It was like a small city.
(b) It was too big to navigate in one day.
(c) It was falling apart.
(d) It was very small, but had enough supplies to fulfill their needs.

3. How many wagons did each family have?
(a) 2
(b) 3
(c) 1
(d) 5

4. How did Tamsen Donner women feel about the trip?
(a) She thought they would regret it.
(b) She thought it would be to their advantage.
(c) She braced herself for the harshness of it.
(d) She thought it was going much better than expected.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did the United States end?

2. What did the note from Hastings on the stick say?

3. What did the book they follow mostly consist of?

4. Who possessed the west?

5. What did the families do in the evening?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the idea behind "manifest destiny."

2. What did Clyman talk to Reed about?

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

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

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

6. Even though Hastings didn't meet them at the Fort, why did they continue to go on to take the Cutoff?

7. Why did each family have three wagons?

8. What did the families do in the evenings?

9. What happened to Mr. Hardcoop?

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

(see the answer keys)

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