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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 Virginia write about her father's banishment?
(a) She said it was fair.
(b) She wrote that his punishment was very unjust.
(c) She only said that he had to go on to California for provisions. D
(d) She didn't write about it at all.

2. What happened to George Donner's hand?
(a) It was chopped off.
(b) He developed frostbite.
(c) He had a cut that was becoming infected.
(d) It was severely burned.

3. Who did Mrs. Murphy say they ought to eat?
(a) Charles
(b) Towser
(c) No-one
(d) Milt

4. Who is the unofficial untarnished hero of the Donner Party?
(a) Charles Stanton
(b) James Reed
(c) William Eddy
(d) Patrick Dolan

5. What happened to the people who resorted to cannibalism?
(a) Nothing
(b) They grew stronger.
(c) They became ill.
(d) They died.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happened to the surviving oxen?

2. How did Patrick Dolan die?

3. What was the weather like as the snowshoers traveled?

4. How did the rescue party find the survivors?

5. What happened to the food that the rescuers had stashed along the journey?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the Reed reunion like?

2. Why didn't the Donner families camp with the others?

3. How many people were stuck camping near the lake, and how many people went off to find help nine days before Christmas?

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

5. How did the Donner party story affect emigrants traveling West?

6. How did the group members respond when it actually came time to eat one of their comrades?

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

8. What complications did the group which later became known as Forlorn Hope face?

9. How did Virginia deal with the idea of cannibalism?

10. What did the group do when they realize that they couldn't reach a summit?

(see the answer keys)

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