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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 did the travelers eat for lunch?
(a) Fish
(b) Venison
(c) Grits
(d) Bread and beef jerkey

2. What was George Donner's occupation?
(a) Lawyer
(b) Farmer
(c) He ran a grocery store.
(d) He ran mills and made furniture.

3. What happened to William Eddie's oxen?
(a) They died of starvation.
(b) They were stolen and killed by the Paiutes.
(c) They were killed by members of the wagon train.
(d) They wandered away.

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

5. Why didn't the Donner Party see other travelers?
(a) They were on a different route.
(b) The others were still far behind them.
(c) Most people head passed through a month before.
(d) Everyone was avoiding them.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many wagons did each family have?

2. What did the families do in the evening?

3. How many wagons did the Reeds lose in the desert?

4. How did the Native Americans describe the Sierra Nevada?

5. How many times had George Donner emigrated?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to John Snyder when his oxen team's yolks got tangled?

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

3. What did Clyman talk to Reed about?

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

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

6. Explain the idea behind "manifest destiny."

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

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

9. How did the Native American treat William Eddy?

10. What happened with Edward Breen?

(see the answer keys)

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