View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did Mary Murphy feel after her ordeal?
(a) She was eager to move on.
(b) She felt as if she had nothing to live for.
(c) She felt like they deserved what they went through.
(d) She was very grateful to survive.

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

3. How did Mary Murphy's first husband treat her?
(a) He doted on her and wouldn't let her work.
(b) He expected her to work hard all the time.
(c) He beat her.
(d) He spoiled her.

4. How did Virginia feel about losing the Pioneer Palace Car?
(a) It didn't seem to bother her much.
(b) It made her angry.
(c) She thought it was practical.
(d) She was devastated.

5. What was completed in 1857, making traveling to California easier?
(a) A cleared trail over the pass
(b) The Central Pacific Railroad
(c) A highway
(d) A stagecoach pass

Short Answer Questions

1. What role did the granite rock have in constructing dwellings?

2. How did they help Jimmy Reed travel?

3. Why was Jean Baptiste Trudeau poking through the snow with a stick?

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

5. Why was it a little difficult to read Virginia's letter?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What happened to Louis Keseberg?

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

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

6. What happened to Mary Murphy?

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

8. What was the Reed reunion like?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 727 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample