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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 happened to the Breen's dog, Towser?
(a) They had to eat it.
(b) They traded it to the Native Americans for food.
(c) The Native Americans stole it.
(d) It ran away.

2. When did Mary Murphy get married?
(a) Nine months after her rescue
(b) Within a week of her rescue
(c) Within a month of her rescue
(d) Within a year of her rescue

3. How did Virginia described the occasion where she nearly died?
(a) She merely said that her feet were frozen very badly.
(b) She was very dramatic about it.
(c) She didn't mention it.
(d) She wrote that it was a useless attempt right from the start.

4. What happened when Margaret tried to cross the mountain?
(a) She missed her children too much so she came back.
(b) The snow was too deep.
(c) She became ill.
(d) Her compass broke, and she had to turn back.

5. What did Aunt Betsy cook in the morning?
(a) Venison
(b) Soup
(c) A heart
(d) Shoemaker's arm

Short Answer Questions

1. What special meal did the Reed children have for Christmas?

2. What was the problem with Tommy?

3. Who did Mrs. Murphy say they ought to eat?

4. What lured emigrants to California in 1849 in 1850?

5. Where are James Reed's pocket watch and Masonic medal displayed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to Mary Murphy?

2. What did William Eddy and William Foster find when they went to rescue their families? Who did they rescue?

3. How did the members of the Donner Party interact when they reached California?

4. How did Virginia tell her cousin about the personal atrocities that happened on the trail?

5. What did the Miwok Indians do to help them?

6. How did they go about deciding who should be cannibalized?

7. What tragedy struck once the first group of survivors made it safely to Johnson's Ranch?

8. Why couldn't all the survivors get rescued at once?

9. What happened to Louis Keseberg?

10. Why didn't Tamsen Donner allow herself to be rescued for a second time?

(see the answer keys)

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