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

2. What happened to John Breen in California?
(a) He became a law maker.
(b) He made a fortune finding gold.
(c) He overate and died.
(d) He became a mountain guide.

3. Why didn't the Piutes help the travelers?
(a) They didn't know they were there.
(b) They didn't know how to help them.
(c) They were afraid of white men.
(d) It was against their religion.

4. What did emigrants do once they realize that they were trapped?
(a) They began to make dwellings.
(b) They hunted for food.
(c) They turned around.
(d) They cried.

5. How close were the dwellings to each other?
(a) They put several miles between buildings.
(b) They deliberately built their dwellings a fair distance apart from each other.
(c) They had room enough for campfires between the buildings.
(d) They attached their dwellings to each other.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What was completed in 1857, making traveling to California easier?

3. What did Virginia write about her father's banishment?

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

5. What did Virginia write about Lansford Hastings?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to Louis Keseberg?

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

3. What was the Reed reunion like?

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

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

6. How many rescue teams were there, and what did they find?

7. What was happening to the group morale?

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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