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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 did they stay warm at night?
(a) They built a huge fire.
(b) They drank whiskey.
(c) They layered their clothing.
(d) They huddled together under a blanket near the fire.

2. Why was Jean Baptiste Trudeau poking through the snow with a stick?
(a) He was trying to find a lost child.
(b) He was hallucinating.
(c) He was looking for a forgotten ox.
(d) He was trying to find firewood.

3. How did the rescue party find the survivors?
(a) They used a detailed map.
(b) They asked the Native Americans.
(c) They saw the swirls of smoke coming from the cabins.
(d) They followed trails.

4. How did the survivors respond when they saw the rescuers?
(a) They cried.
(b) They thought they were delirious.
(c) They rushed at the rescuers demanding food.
(d) They ran away.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How many people left with the first rescue team?

2. What happened to the dogs that were traveling with the group?

3. What did William Graves believe about when the group's troubles began?

4. What happened to John Breen in California?

5. Why wasn't William Foster tried for the deaths of Luis and Salvador?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did Virginia inadvertently help the world hear about what happened to the Donner Party?

3. Why didn't the starving people hunt for food?

4. What did they decide to do for food in order to survive?

5. What troubles did they face as they waited out the winter?

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

7. What happened to Mary Murphy?

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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