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

2. Who did Foster want to kill?
(a) Lem Murphy
(b) Their Native American guides.
(c) William Eddy
(d) Patrick Dolan

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

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

5. How did Victoria react to the cannibalism?
(a) She was very matter-of-fact about it.
(b) The idea of it made her nauseous.
(c) She didn't mention it.
(d) She was surprised that anyone would find it abnormal in the circumstances.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who had given William Eddy the secret gift that he found in his pack?

2. What did the survivors do with the buckskin strings from the rescue party's snowshoes?

3. Who went off to find help nine days before Christmas?

4. What did the rescuers tell the survivors about Forlorn Hope?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. What happened to Louis Keseberg?

6. What happened to the members of the Reed family?

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

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

9. What was happening to the group morale?

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

(see the answer keys)

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