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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the Caw tribe like?

2. How did Tamsen Donner women feel about the trip?

3. How long did it take the group to prepare to travel?

4. What was the Hastings Cutoff trail like?

5. What did Stanton recommend that the group do before crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the women feel about the decision, and how was their opinion factored in?

2. What was the Forty Mile Desert like?

3. What did Clyman talk to Reed about?

4. Even though Hastings didn't meet them at the Fort, why did they continue to go on to take the Cutoff?

5. What did the Donner party find when they emerged from the Cutoff?

6. Why did some of the people in Springfield question James Reed's ideas?

7. How did Virginia feel about her traveling clothes?

8. Explain the idea behind "manifest destiny."

9. How did the Reed wagons do on the journey?

10. Describe what would eventually become known as the Pioneer Palace Car.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Was Lansford Warren Hastings qualified to write his book? Why or why not? What did the man do for a living and what was he like?

Essay Topic 2

What did the group expect of the weather when they reached the Sierra Nevada? What decisions did they make, and what warnings did they have that they should have paid more heed to? Why didn't they heed the warnings?

Essay Topic 3

Describe what Christmas was like when the Donner Party members were trapped. Describe Christmas for those at the lake as well as the Forlorn Hope members.

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